Artemis Rising
by SydFord1012
Summary: Young Artemis Crowell couldn't have had a worse beginning, first the fire, than a string of abusive foster homes. But Lady Luck decided to shine on her when Mycroft Holmes came to Roseway Orphanage and took her in. Now all she has to do is survive her private school, her eccentric teachers, and her not-so-average uncle. Join Artemis and her friends on their rambunctious adventures.
1. Scars and Burns

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sherlock.**

* * *

All I remember was fire.

It surrounded me, the smoke filling my lungs as I heard the screams of the other children. I walked over to the corner as if the fire was not there, as if the flames were not creeping higher, the curtains were not black and slowly burning away, the beds were not scattered about the room and the air was not dark and hard to breathe in.

I heard the staff running around, trying to save themselves, their belongings, and the frantic children. They burst through the door and looked around, the flames immediately engulfing them, causing them to turn and run without a second glance; they neither saw nor heard me, huddle in the corner trying to block everything out.

I tried to escape it, go into my mind until it was all over. But no matter how hard I concentrated I could still feel the flames creeping closer, singing my dress. It hurt.

I felt myself shaking in fear, this was it, and this was the end. I saw my life flash before my eyes and one thing made itself painfully clear, it was short… _too_ short.

I remember thinking I'll die before I had the chance to fully live, I wanted to have adventures like the ones Jane had told, of pirates and Indians, flying and falling in love, I wanted to have a family that loved and cared for me unconditionally, I wanted to fight crimes and solve murders, like the detectives in books I had read.

My life would end before it started, and that was the last thought I had before everything went black.

* * *

I woke up in the hospital, my throat burned and my limbs ached. My eyes looked around, only to see colorful walls with teddy bears, but no person. I tried to sit up but my body protested and I slumped back down.

"Ah, you're awake." A man opened the door and smiled warmly. "How are you feeling?"

I opened my mouth to speak, but it came out croaky.

"Oh yes, I'm afraid it may be a bit difficult to speak, would you like some water?" he lifted up the glass he had in his hand.

I nodded weakly and he lifted my head slightly and allowed me to drink, but soon I was coughing and sputtering.

"Oh dear." He smiled sympathetically. "Now, try to speak now."

I opened my mouth again but still, nothing came out.

He frowned and told me to open my mouth; he stuck a Popsicle stick against my tongue and lifted a flashlight to look at my throat.

"There doesn't appear to be any damage." His frown deepened as he pocketed the flashlight and threw the Popsicle stick in the trash. "Keep at it, maybe you'll regain speech soon." He smiled reassuringly.

I nodded slowly and leaned back into the pillow.

"In the meantime…" he looked around for a paper. "Can you write?" he raised an eyebrow.

I frowned and nodded.

"Good, good." He nodded and handed me a pad full of paper and a pencil. "If you need anything, just tell me."

I quickly wrote something down, which made him blink in confusion. I brought up the paper and showed it to him.

"'May I ask where I am?'" He read aloud, and then looked back at me. "Of course dear, you're in St. Bart's Hospital." He smiled slightly.

I glanced down and quickly wrote out: _Where is that?_

"In London, my dear." He chuckled.

I nodded and set the pad down. I saw him glance down at his clipboard and write a few things down.

"So then, Artemis," he read out the name. "Lovely name," he smiled at me. "Do you know why you're here?"

I shook my head.

"You've got burns on you," he answered sadly. "The orphanage you lived in burned down, do you remember that?"

I looked down, avoiding his eyes but quickly nodded.

"How old are you, Artemis?" he leaned in.

I knew full well that he knew, if he knew my name on his clipboard then he knew my age too, but nevertheless, I put up four fingers.

"You're very mature for your age." He chuckled again.

I nodded in thanks, but that wasn't the first time I've heard that, people said I looked three but acted sixteen.

"You're very smart, do you know that too?" he tilted his head slightly, I looked up at him, I wasn't very smart, average at best. He saw the doubt in my eyes. "For instance, what's four plus four?"

I frowned but held up eight fingers.

"Fifteen plus five?"

I blinked and flashed ten fingers twice.

"See!" he smiled widely. "You're very smart, I have a six year old and she counts aloud, on her fingers, and it takes her all day!"

I looked down, I just knew all that, it wasn't that special, there just wasn't anything else to do in the orphanage besides learn and talk to others, and she obviously chose the former.

His face suddenly became solemn again. "You know, you're going to have to go to another orphanage once you're all better…?"

I nodded.

He frowned again and checked the machines. "Can't you feel any pain?" he asked concerned.

I nodded again; in fact it quite hurt in my legs.

"Where?" he said before remembering I couldn't speak at the moment. "Your legs?" he asked.

I nodded.

He slowly moved over and uncovered my legs, but he held the blanket up so I couldn't see. "I know you're mature, but even an adult wouldn't want to see this." He said, only causing me to worry even more. "Wiggle your toes." He said.

I tried but I didn't feel much movement, but by his relieved face, any movement was good, which only made me even more worried.

"Can you feel this?"

…Nothing. I shook my head.

"This?"

…Again, nothing. I shook my head again.

"You might regain feeling soon enough." He said, not too worried about it. "What about your arm?" he said.

I looked down at my left arm and saw it bandaged, I frowned slightly and lifted it up a bit. I looked back at him as if asking what happened.

"You were burned there too, not as bad, but still…" he shrugged and took my arm gently. "It's healing up nicely."

I looked down and saw he had taken the bandage off of part of it; I saw the scar tissue and started freaking out.

He swiftly calmed me down. "It's okay, it's not as bad as it looks, and the scars will go away soon."

I shook my head and took the pad, jotting down the words I wished to say: _How long was I asleep?_

He opened his mouth but closed it and backed away sheepishly, which made my heart wrench in worry. "A few weeks…" he said.

I gaped and felt tears sting my eyes. _Is everyone okay?_ I quickly wrote out.

A pause. "There…were some…" he struggled to say it. "Casualties." He hoped I didn't know what that meant but the shock on my face proved him wrong.

 _Who? How many?_ I wrote.

He took a sharp intake of breath and looked away. "Three." He said slowly and looked at his clipboard again. "Emily Wordsworth, the staff member," he said. "She died in the building. And Thomas Hendrickson, he died shortly after we found him." Then he looked away in shame. "And…Jane Kimberly, she died yesterday."

Jane…my roommate… I felt the tears fall and broken sobs fell from my lips. I tried to speak again but it came out raspy and it felt as if the words got caught in my throat.

"Shh…" he rubbed my back comfortingly as I leaned forward and breathed heavily. "I want you to take deep breathes." He said soothingly. "I am sorry, Artemis-"

I held up a hand to stop him and straightened my back, so I was sitting perfectly straight, my tears stopped and I looked forward.

Shocked by my sudden change, the doctor awkwardly asked if I was okay, to which I nodded, I shouldn't cry over this, it wasn't the first time someone close to me died…

I saw him lick his lips and stand up from his chair. "I'm all done here," he said. "And I've got other patients to see to, will you be alright?"

I nodded shortly.

"You sure?" he asked worriedly.

I glanced up at him and nodded more firmly.

"Alright." He nodded back and started to the door. "Feel better for me, alright?"

I didn't nod this time, I wasn't sure if I was ever going to feel better.

I swallowed and slowly got out of bed, I touched the ground only to fall and bring down the chair next to me. I looked at my legs and gasped at the extent of the damage, burns all up and down my calves, ending slightly above my knee, they didn't seem like they'd be noticeable in a few years, but right now they were glaringly obvious, and painful.

I tried to walk but wobbled onto the window, supporting myself on the surface of the window seat.

I looked out and saw the bustle of the London streets, people going about their way, not noticing the small girl staring out the window.

How lucky they must be, they didn't wobble on their legs, nor did they have red, raw skin on them or bandaging on their arms, they didn't just survive a fire and learn their best friend died just the previous day. I felt myself frown at the envy I felt, that was new…

I slipped onto the seat and noticed the tug at my arm, I looked over and for the first time, I noticed the rather large needle sticking out of my arm. I gasped and swallowed hard, I hated needles, always have.

My eyes followed the needle, connected to a tube which was connected to what looked like a rack, but it had a bag hanging on it.

I pulled the tube slightly and the rack wheeled over to me so that I could sit comfortably on the seat, I brought my legs up to my chest and pulled my childish hospital gown over them.

I watched everything until I noticed the sun going down, a few nurses had been in, surprised to see me out of bed, but said nothing, simply checked a few things on the machines and pressed some buttons.

Everything was so peaceful outside now, barely anyone walked around as the moon rose higher in the sky, illuminating the streets, so much so that I was sure they didn't need those street lamps.

I watched the stars come out and named each one in my head, Orion, Taurus, Gemini, Canis Major and Canis Minor. I smiled softly and placed me head against the wall, I wished I could see Leo, which was always my favorite one, but alas he was too far north.

I felt a bit better after looking at the constellations; it always made me feel better. I sighed and let my eyes drift shut, soon all consciousness left me.

And I remember the dream I had, the first dream I had had in awhile.

* * *

I remember I felt like I was floating, my legs didn't hurt and there was no needle in my arm. Then suddenly I was dunked underwater and I struggled to breathe, a hand was keeping me under but I couldn't make out the face of the person holding me down. My mind started to panic and I knew it was the last thing I needed.

I started calming myself down, think, Artemis, think! Judging by the hand's size, it was probably a male and adult male too. I opened my eyes under the water to see me feet didn't quite hit the pool floor… _pool_ , I was in a pool going by the concrete and designed tiles on the edges. I looked over and saw the man's body was submerged, but only his waist down, he was wearing an expensive looking suit and shoes that were now ruined by the water.

I closed my eyes again as the chlorine stung me.

I counted each second as I struggled, knowing I couldn't hold my breath for more than ten seconds.

I couldn't kick the attacker since I was under water, it wouldn't do much good. So I brought my hand up and gripped the hand, kicking my feet as I tried to swim, knowing full well this guy didn't have to hold me down, I couldn't swim at all.

My vision got blurry as my lungs ached for oxygen. I knew I wasn't going to last much longer so as a last resort, I swung my legs up, albeit slowly since the water hindered me. I made to so my legs were pointed upwards and my feet bobbed above the surface, the man's hands came and pushed the feet back underwater.

I took my chance and wrapped my small feet around his arm and felt him lift his arm out of the water, I used his own strength against him as my head moved from underneath his other hand.

I gasped for breath as I went above the surface, but I knew I had to get to the edge of the pool before he dunked me under again. I kicked off his arm and began thrashing wildly as I inhaled large gulps of water, I choked and coughed and was fully aware of the man moving swiftly in the water towards me. I finally reached for the edge and pulled myself out, I noticed my new dress was soaked…wait, _new dress_? I looked down at the bright yellow monstrosity I was wearing, it weighed heavily because of the water. My pretty, shiny shoes were all ruined too.

I saw the man lift himself out too and made a run for it, but as soon as I opened the door into the large, modern house, the floor seemed to give out beneath me and I was floating once more.

Only, it didn't feel like floating, it felt more like…falling.

My hair whipped around me and the wind stung my eyes, my dress puffed up but it didn't make me fall slowly and gently like the picture books, it just lifted up and covered my face annoyingly, I knew those stories were no good. I batted it down and held my hand there as I continued to fall.

It was pitch black but for some reason I wasn't, it was like it was just a black background going on and on forever.

As I started to fear I would never land, I saw a sidewalk hurtling towards me at an alarming rate. Now I wished I really never did land.

I squeezed my eyes shut right before I hit the ground.

* * *

I bolted upright; I was back in the hospital bed. My breathing was heavy and I heard the EKG going fast, indicating that my heart was going too fast, I tried to calm myself.

I took deep breaths and lay back down. It was a weird dream…one I never wished to have again.

I turned my head to the side and saw no one there. Why did I do that? Who was going to be there, waiting for the little orphan girl to wake up? But still, I couldn't shake that empty feeling in my chest, I felt alone.

At the orphanage I always had Jane lying on the other bed, right beside me, now she was gone, and I'd have to be separated from everyone, I'd go to a new orphanage that would simply take care of me until I was of age, because who'd adopt me? Or maybe I'd be put into foster care and be bounced from house to house, maybe someone abusive would end up with me, or maybe someone kind but I'd be torn away from that person…because that's how the world works.

I knew I was too young to other people, too young to be thinking things like that. I should be playing with dolls and having princess books read to me, not playing with weapons and reading detective novels to myself.

I shouldn't know how the world works yet…

But I do.

And it hurts.


	2. Artemis Crowell Holmes

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sherlock.**

* * *

Three years later…

" _This is ridiculous, Mycroft, if you're lonely get yourself a dog or something_." The voice on the other end of the phone said lightly.

Mycroft Holmes sat in his car, being driven to a place he never thought he'd find himself.

"Sorry, brother mine, but this is all perfectly logical to me." He shook his head.

" _In what way is this logical?_ " He could almost hear Sherlock's eye roll. " _You're being too rash, think of the future._ "

"The future is exactly what I'm thinking of." Mycroft insisted. "Besides, it's not like I'll actually do it all myself."

" _I didn't think you would…_ " Mycroft didn't like the way Sherlock sounded when he said that.

"I'm pulling up now, goodbye, Sherlock." He said as he saw the sign.

" _You're making a mistake._ " Sherlock grumbled. " _And don't think I'm babysitting!_ "

"Who on earth would leave _you_ with a small child?" Mycroft said as he hung up the phone and looked at the rusted old sign hanging from the old, metal arch gate; the wind swung the sign back and forth, creating a terrible squeaking noise.

He read the sign and confirmed he was indeed in the right place, much to his disgust.

 _Roseway Orphanage_ said the sign.

He walked under it and into the yard, the grass was dead but that was nothing new, what with the cold weather. He walked on the uneven pathway into the old, creaking building.

He saw a middle aged woman bustling about, mopping up some spilled juice.

"Excuse me, are you Mrs. Kay?" he asked, gaining her attention.

"Yes, and you're Mr. Homes, right?" she smiled and set the mop aside. "Just call me Ms. Jenny." She nodded and extended her hand.

He stared at it, wondering where it might have been considering she worked with children, you never knew. "Nice to meet you, Ms. Jenny." He shook it anyway, trying not to cringe when it felt sticky.

"So, I've checked out your credentials and the sort, and it all checks out." She smiled. "But you didn't specify what child you might be looking for." She looked down the hall at the girl that looked about in her twenty's trying to catch a screaming toddler. "Age group, gender, ethnicity." she said. "I've had all sorts of people come in here, some want an Asian baby, some want a troublemaking teen to try and change into a respectable person. What about you?"

He blinked. "I'm sorry?" he asked.

"We've got one year olds to sixteen year olds, girls and boys," she listed. "Not sure about ethnicity, but I know we've got Scottish and Asian, I think one girl's German, and another's Italian…?" she ended with a questioning sound.

He thought about it. "I don't care about any of that, as long as they're young enough to teach and old enough to not soil their diapers." He said with disgust. "And agreeable." He added quickly.

She hummed and told him to wait there. "Hailey, help me with this." She said to the twenty year old girl.

"Yeah, sure." She held the struggling toddler and followed the older woman.

Mycroft let out a sigh, starting to doubt this plan, was it too late to back out? His question was answered in the form of Ms. Jenny ushering out a group of kids, ranging in all shapes and sizes.

"These are all the ages from five to eight." She stood next to Mycroft who looked at the kids with disdain; he really wasn't sure why he came here instead of some other, more popular adoption service.

All the kids looked at him with hopeful eyes. "I'm Jessup!" one brave girl said with a smile. "That's my last name, but it's what everyone calls me!" she gave a toothy smile.

They all started talking over each other, trying to say their names and give off a good impression. It occurred to Mycroft that they were trying to be adopted so they can be happy and loved, it was a sad reality.

He looked beyond the crowd of children to one little girl, she was small and her eyes were lifeless.

"You there!" he called over. "What's you name."

The little girl looked at him with such intensity with those deep blue eyes that it made him freeze in place.

"She doesn't speak." Ms. Jenny said. "Hasn't said a word since she came here a few months ago."

Mycroft looked back at the girl whose attention was gone again. "How old are you?" he said, not giving up.

She looked back at him with what resembled a glare, but it was half-hearted. She stuck out seven fingers.

"Seven?" he said.

She nodded shortly and looked away again.

Ms. Jenny looked at the girl sadly. "Well, I'm sure Mr. Holmes has been introduced to all of you by now, come now, let's play in the yard." She ushered them outside and told Hailey to watch them.

"So, you've seen them all now?" Ms. Jenny sighed with a smile.

"Yes." Mycroft looked at his suit, now sticky and dirty from the little children. "I have."

"I apologize." She said.

"It's quite alright, I have plenty." He accepted the tissue she have him and proceeded to wipe of the majority of the grime.

"I meant for the girl." She nodded to the yard that they could see out the window, all the children were laughing and playing, but one girl sat alone by the window, reading a book.

"She reads?" he asked.

Ms. Jenny nodded happily. "Yes, she's very bright," she smiled. "She read and read every book we had when she first came here, and she insisted on the bed by the window so she could see the stars."

"What's her name?" Mycroft asked as his eyes wondered to the small girl again.

"Artemis Crowell." She looked at the girl as well.

"Strange." He said.

"No offense, but…your name is Mycroft Holmes." She looked at him with a smirk.

"Yes." He sighed wearily.

"Oh dear…" she looked out the window again.

Mycroft followed her gaze and saw the same girl sitting in the same spot, like the rest of the world was gone, but the kids around her all frowned, the two adults couldn't hear them but they could see their lips moving.

* * *

Artemis hadn't noticed the other children yet, but she faintly registered a dull ache in her legs.

"Why don't you talk?" one girl with braids asked with a sneer.

"'Cause she's a mute!" a boy grinned.

"Maybe she just thinks she's too good for us." One girl said and took a step closer to the reading girl.

"You're right, look at her, ignoring us!" another boy pointed at her book.

"She's always reading, and never plays with us." A girl said.

"Maybe she's deaf too!" one boy laughed as the girl didn't respond or even seem to notice them.

"She's a freak!" the girl with braids shouted.

"Freak!" another girl shouted.

"Freak!" the boy laughed.

"And what about your legs?" the girl with braids said, pointing at the covered legs.

"Yeah, I've seen them in the bath." Another girl said.

"They're all weird!" a different girl smirked.

"Freakish." Another girl laughed.

"Hey, _are_ you deaf?" the boy shouted as loud as he could in hopes that she'd hear them.

"She must be because she never answers."

"What happened to your legs, did your foster dad do that?" the braided girl sneered.

They perked up when Artemis rubbed her legs, not aware of the fact that she only did it because of the ache, not because of them.

One boy took the chance and grabbed her book, causing her to look up. "What are you even reading?" he asked.

"Ast-ro-no-my?" the braided girl scoffed, but proud that she could read big kid words.

Artemis wanted to correct her, since the girl mispronounced it.

"Do you want it back?" the boy waved the book tauntingly.

Artemis nodded.

"Here," he handed it to her, but right before she took it he pulled it back. "I didn't say all of it."

Artemis narrowed her eyes, knowing what was going to happen.

The boy tore out a page with a laugh and handed the book to the braided girl, who tore out several pages and threw them at Artemis.

"Freak!" she barked as Artemis bent over to pick up the pieces. "That's right Freak, go fetch like a good little doggy." She crumpled another piece and tossed it father away and laughed as Artemis went to pick it up. "Nice legs!" she mocked as Artemis's jeans went a bit above her ankles and showed her scared legs. Each toss went farther and farther away until she tossed to and laughed as Artemis went to pick it up, but someone beat her to it.

The kids stopped laughing as Mycroft unfolded the crumpled paper. "This is too advanced for a seven year old." He stated simply as he read the paper.

She extended her hand and he placed the paper in it carefully. She nodded in thanks and went over to the braided girl and stuck her hand out for the book instead of taking it forcefully.

Mycroft's sharp gaze made the braided girl give the book over and run off.

Artemis looked at the ruined book and walked inside, gently setting it down in the sitting room. "Do you know what they were saying to you?" Mycroft asked and noticed the girl flinch. "You did, didn't you?"

They girl avoided his eyes and nodded simply before fetching the tape.

"You're going to fix it?" he asked.

She nodded.

"Why don't you speak?" he asked.

She gave him a look saying that she didn't need to speak.

This look seemed lost on him. "Does it have to do with those scars on your legs?"

She blushed in embarrassment and unconsciously checked her jeans were covering her.

"Those were burns." He said.

She swallowed hard.

"But old scars, so did you lose your voice in a fire?" he raised his eyebrow.

She blinked harshly a few times before getting a paper and pencil, writing something down. _No, I just don't want to speak._

He had to admit, it was nice handwriting for a seven year old. "But you can?"

She shrugged.

"You don't know?" he frowned in confusion. "You've never tried?"

 _I couldn't speak a bit after the fire, but then the Doctor said I was able to if I wanted, but I didn't feel the need._

He read it and glanced at her stoic face. "Artemis Crowell?" he said and she nodded. "Artemis, would you like a new book?" he said.

She glanced at the Astronomy book and nodded reluctantly.

"But it's a package deal," he said. "A new book, and a new name." he said, surprising her.

She quickly wrote down her thoughts. _But I like my name._

"Your last name?" he smirked.

She felt like an idiot, she had never expected him to want to adopt her.

"Or is that open to change?"

She took a deep intake of breath and nodded.

"Then, would you like to be Artemis Holmes?" he asked.

She wrote something down and gave it to him. _Artemis Crowell Holmes, I've grown somewhat fond of my name, but I'm willing to compromise and make it my middle name._

He smiled slightly. "Very well, it's a good compromise." He shook her hand as if they were finishing a deal. "Artemis Crowell Holmes." He said, liking the way it sounded.

She smiled for the first time since she moved to Roseway Orphanage.

* * *

"Lovely." Ms. Jenny smiled warmly as Mycroft and Artemis stood in the foyer. "Just lovely." She wiped away the tears threatening to spill over. "I'm happy for you, Artemis."

The girl nodded and smiled.

"It's so good to see your smile." She sighed. "I hope you are happy in your new home."

"She'll be happy." Mycroft assured.

The woman smiled and slid a form over to Mycroft. "Sign here, and initials here." She guided him through it and when he was done, she smiled again. "You'll take care of that girl, won't you?"

He looked up at her. "Yes, of course, she'll have everything money can buy." He said simply.

"Children need more than that." She said. "You'll love her?"

He blinked, not really thinking about that, would he love her? She was more of assurance if anything, when he dies, she'll take over things, or at least for a time being. He would need an heir after all.

He decided not to answer, instead spared a glance to the girl in question, sitting patiently by the door. If he didn't love her, he was sure Sherlock would, or his parents. _Someone_ will.

"Let's go." He said as he started to the door.

She looked up at him stoically, the giddiness had worn off, but she was still glad to be adopted.

"Artemis?" Mycroft called already halfway down the walkway.

She looked back and smiled once again at the thought of never having to be in a place like this again.

Of course all good things must come to an end, or at least, that's what the voice in her head had always said. But who says she should listen?


	3. Meeting Uncle Sherlock

**Disclaimer: I do not own Sherlock.**

* * *

Artemis sat on the couch in the dirty looking flat. She looked around, memorizing each thing, but then she looked over to the man sitting in the chair, staring at her uneasily.

They stared each other down, keeping eye contact the entire time.

He was slender, his hair was black and curly, his eyes were a light blue, and his features were sharp.

He suddenly took a sharp intake a breath and placed his hand under his chin, his eyes studied her carefully.

The door suddenly opened, but Artemis didn't have to look over to know it wasn't Mycroft, who said there was an emergency call and dropped her off at this man's flat. They didn't seem to like each other.

"I got a case for you…" a man walked in and frowned when he saw her "Sherlock, who's this?" Lestrade frowned. "Did…did you kidnap her?"

"I honestly didn't think Mycroft would follow through…" he mumbled.

"Follow through on what?" Lestrade asked irately.

"Lestrade, meet Artemis." Sherlock said.

The girl finally looked away from Sherlock and instead looked to Lestrade.

"Hello, Artemis…" Lestrade said awkwardly.

She nodded in acknowledgement, but her face was completely stoic.

"So…whose is she?" he asked.

"Mycroft's." Sherlock said simply and got up.

"M-Mycroft's?" Lestrade exclaimed. "Your brother's?"

"Mm." he hummed in agreement and inspected the shopping from earlier.

"I…didn't know Mycroft had a kid." Lestrade looked back to Artemis.

"Well, up until an hour ago, he didn't." Sherlock said vaguely and picked up an apple. "Want one?" he asked her, she nodded, so he tossed it and she caught it with ease. Lestrade was still confused, so Sherlock sighed in frustration. "He adopted her." He explained.

"Mycroft…adopted a little girl?" Lestrade frowned. "Any brother of _yours_ doesn't seem like the fatherly-type."

"It's merely for convenience." Sherlock said.

Lestrade's eyes widened and he looked at Artemis. "Don't say that in front of her!" he hissed.

"She'll be aware of it eventually, won't you Artemis?" he asked her.

She looked up in confusion, having not heard their conversation.

Sherlock rolled his eyes and went back to the chair.

Lestrade frowned, noticing the girl hadn't spoken since he got back. "How old are you, Artemis?" he asked and crouched down to her height.

She stuck out seven fingers.

"Can't you speak?" he asked.

Artemis looked away with a shrug.

"I haven't heard her say anything, and Mycroft said she hasn't spoken in at least a few months, probably longer." Sherlock said from the living room. Lestrade looked back down at her; she was now reading a book from the bookshelf. "But she seems to be an avid reader." Sherlock said offhandedly.

"What are you reading, Artemis?" he asked.

She held it up; _To Kill a Mockingbird_ said the title.

"Are you sure you're seven?" he said.

She nodded and continued to read.

"At least he got an intelligent one." Sherlock said without looking at them.

Lestrade glared at him. "You're filthy," he said to Artemis, taking in her dirty clothes and matted hair. "Have you had a bath?"

She shook her head.

"Should we give her one?" Lestrade asked Sherlock.

"Bathe her?" Sherlock looked at him. "Go ahead, I'm not going to."

Lestrade got up with a sigh. "Artemis, come on, let's get you clean."

Artemis unconsciously touched her legs, but nodded anyway. She got up off the couch and walked over to her, mentally preparing herself.

* * *

Half an hour later…

Lestrade came in with a conflicted expression. The small girl walked back to the couch, wearing a large T-Shirt that Sherlock grudgingly agreed to let her borrow.

"Is everything okay?" Sherlock asked casually.

Lestrade looked up at him; he glanced at Artemis who had started her book again. "Where did she get those scars?" he asked in a hushed tone.

"Scars?" Sherlock looked at her with a frown, seeing Artemis's exposed legs. He slowly walked over to her. "Artemis?" She looked away, knowing what he was going to say, he saw. "Do you need anything to cover your legs, it is cold." He asked.

She looked up at him and nodded slowly.

"Those are burns…" Sherlock said, earning a half-hearted glare from Lestrade. "Where did you get them?"

She looked down and set her book on the table.

"Mycroft needs to teach you sign language." Sherlock sighed and leaned back in his chair. "Those are about a few years old, I'll take a wild guess and say that's the last time you said anything?"

She nodded.

"Mycroft's seen your legs then?" he asked.

"Yes, I have." A voice in the doorway said.

Artemis looked up and saw the man that had taken her from the orphanage standing there with two umbrellas in his hands.

"How did it go?" he asked her.

She nodded, as if saying it went well.

"Good then." He handed the smaller umbrella to her, it wasn't colorful or anything childish, but it wasn't a solid black like his was, it was a royal blue that matched her eyes. "We'll be taking our leave now." He said and took in her large T-shirt. "I have new clothes for you."

She nodded again.

"I want that shirt back." Sherlock said.

"When was the last time you even wore it?" Mycroft scoffed.

"You'll return it cleaned?" he asked.

"Fine." Mycroft rolled his eyes, and then looked down at the small girl. "Let's go then."

She waved to Lestrade and Sherlock, then jogged down the stairs and stood by the door, waiting for Mycroft to finish talking with them.

She opened her umbrella and smiled slightly at the thought of having something that was hers and no one else's.

"Come along, Artemis." Mycroft said as he opened the door. "I've been told we need to have a talk." He said with a sigh.

Artemis stepped into the black car and sat down next to Mycroft, suddenly feeling rather small.

"Well then…" he cleared his throat. "We'll start with academics." He undid his suit coat's buttons and leaned back into the seat. "I'd have to have you take a few tests, but I'm confident that you're smart enough to be placed in at least third grade."

Artemis looked out the window and watched the people walking around; the sun was starting to set.

"I've had a room made for you at my house, and I plan on enrolling you into a private school." he looked at her. "Are you listening?"

She nodded.

"There…is one thing…" he started. "The private school requires a uniform, and you'll have to wear a dress…"

Artemis looked over with fearful eyes.

"The skirt goes to your knees and you can wear stockings, so it's fine." He waved it off. "Besides, I'm sure the scars won't be as noticeable in a year or two."

Artemis looked back out the window, that's what she had thought when she first got them...

Mycroft looked out the opposite window and nodded. "Seeing as you'll be my daughter, I insist you take self defense, but that can be later, for now, a martial arts class will do."

Artemis paused and looked at him.

"Do you want to know martial arts?" he asked.

Artemis nodded quickly.

"Good." He saw his house nearing. "We're here." He said and the car started slowing.

When the car stopped, Artemis jumped out and ran to the front door, she had never been inside such a big house, and she found herself getting excited.

"Settle down, you'll get used to it." Mycroft said when he saw her bouncing on her feet.

She raced in as soon as the door opened to reveal his assistant, Vanessa, her light brown hair was loosely going down her back and her brown eyes stared at Artemis. "You really did it…" she breathed.

"Yes, I really did." Mycroft placed his umbrella by the door. "I'll be in the study, can you entertain her?"

Vanessa's eyes went wide. "But…" she shook her head.

"Thank you." He shut the door.

She looked back but found no young child in sight. "Little girl?" she called out. "Where'd you go?"

She sighed and pulled out her phone, when in doubt, the internet is your friend.

Suddenly the phone was pulled out of her hand and she saw the little girl holding it.

"Hey, give that back." The girl hurriedly handed it back to her. "There, you're not so bad, are you?" she said as she held the phone in her hands.

The girl blinked and looked around.

"If you're looking for Mr. Holmes, he's in there." She pointed to the door at the end of the hall. "It's his study, and you shouldn't interrupt him while he's in there." She slipped the phone in her pocket. "Your room is upstairs, three doors down, on the left." She walked slowly behind the girl as she scampered up the stairs and counted the doors.

Finally she came to the right one and opened the door.

"It's sort of plain right now, but you can make it your own." Vanessa said as she looked at the dark room, she flipped the light on and smiled slightly when the girl gasped.

She looked back as if asking if it was okay.

"Go on," Vanessa urged. "It's your room."

Artemis smiled and ran in, her small suitcase forgotten by the door.

"Is this all you had with you?" Kyla asked as she eyed the grey case.

Artemis nodded and looked around the large room. She couldn't remember the last time she had her own room. She had a feeling it would be difficult to sleep alone, seeing as she hadn't had to, ever, but she'd get used to it.

"Do you like it?" she asked. "I helped with some of the decorations, but I wasn't sure if you were going to be a girl or a boy, so I had to go with neutral colors, we can change it and paint the walls pink or something." She shrugged casually.

Artemis shook her head. She didn't want pink walls, she could already imagine it. The walls were going to be a soft blue, and the ceiling would have the night sky painted on it with actual constellations.

She liked the dark wood floor, and the rug that Vanessa had put in the middle of the floor, she'd keep that. It had one full sized bed that looked really soft and the comforter was fluffy. The room itself wasn't very full; they must have thought it was best to hold off on getting a bunch of toys until they knew whether she was a girl or boy.

"I'll leave you to it then, do you want anything?"

Artemis shook her head and grabbed her suitcase, she began to unpack the clothes and place them into the dresser.

"Oh, and Mr. Holmes got you more clothes and things, I'll have them brought up."

Artemis nodded.

Vanessa smiled, happy that this child was easy to get along with, she wasn't like other kids, running around with snot coming out of their noses and…other bodily fluids…Vanessa shivered in disgust and continued down the steps.

Artemis smiled softly at the room, something she could call her own…it was _her_ room.

She looked over at the teddy bear in the corner; it was slightly bigger than her. She smiled widely and took the bear's hands; she started dancing around the room with it and could imagine the music playing.

Mycroft stood in front of the door; he hesitated, after reading her file on the computer. He couldn't imagine that the girl that could smile like she had could have gone through all that.

Her mother was of German decent, and her father was unknown. Her mother had died in a car accident with Artemis in the backseat when she was only two. Then she went to an orphanage temporarily while an investigation for her father was conducted, but he was never found so she stayed at the orphanage until three years ago. The building caught on fire in the dead of night and there were three casualties, a staff member, and two children, one of which had been Artemis's roommate. She was in the hospital for a month after that, healing from burns and she had a counselor there to deal with the 'physiological damage' as the file had put it, then was released and bounced from foster home to foster home before going to Roseway.

He opened the door and saw her set the bear down with a smile.

"Do you like it?" he asked, causing her to turn to him.

She looked around the room and nodded.

"It's a bit dull right now, but we can fix that." He looked at her. "You'll start school next Monday." He said.

She blinked, she had never gone to a private school before, and she only had to wait five days.

* * *

 **Third chapter, whoo!**

 **Thanks to AnnaRooma for your review, I was really happy.**

 **Don't forget to review, ask questions and get answers, any requests or anything just let me know!**


	4. First Day at School (Meet the Juveniles)

**Disclaimer: I do not own BBC Sherlock.**

* * *

Artemis's eyes were wide as her black hair was pulled into a high ponytail. She pulled nervously at the end of the dress.

"I don't understand why I have to do this." Vanessa grumbled as she struggled to brush out all the tangles.

"Because I don't want to." Mycroft said as he flipped the page of the book.

Artemis eyes him with a smirk and decided to show off her new sign language skills. _He doesn't know how_ , she signed.

"I do!" he frowned when he saw her.

"What'd she say?" Vanessa looked between them. "I need to learn that now?" she sighed dramatically.

Artemis giggled and quickly escaped Vanessa's clutched when her hair was done, it was pulled back a little too tight and it hurt a bit, but she didn't mind.

Vanessa sighed wearily as she watched the little girl run happily out the door.

"Quite rambunctious, isn't she?" Mycroft took a sip of his tea.

"Very…" Vanessa frowned and gathered up the pajamas, forgotten by the girl. "I don't remember 'nanny' being in my job description." She said.

"It's not, but for the time being," he gave her a pointed look. "Just until I find an actual nanny, you'll have to do."

Artemis bit her lip to conceal her excitement; she was going to third grade, in a private school. It was all so exciting; she couldn't help but let out a smile.

"Ready?" Mycroft came into view.

She nodded hurriedly and shot out the door as soon as he opened it. She opened the door and climbed in, getting a bit irritated when she saw Mycroft taking his sweet time to walk down the steps and into the car.

"I trust you'll be on your best behavior?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

She nodded reassuringly.

"Good, now didn't those books pay off?" he asked. "Skipping a grade."

She smiled happily and nodded.

"You'll be younger than most of the kids, don't let it get to you." He warned. "You're just as smart as them, if not smarter, that's what matters in school."

She nodded, everything he was saying was going in one ear and out the other; she was just too excited!

"And remember not to let other kids plague your mind, trust your intelligence, if someone asks you to do something stupid, what do you do?"

 _Don't do it_ , she signed.

He nodded. "That's about the gist of it." he leaned back. "I'm happy those sign language lessons went well, you pick things up easily it seems."

She smiled at the praise and her smile only grew wider when the school came into view.

"I must speak with a few people, go ahead and…" he didn't get to finish the sentence as she opened the door and bolted.

She grinned as she saw other kids, ranging in different ages and looks, some walking by themselves and others walking with groups.

She turned around and saw Mycroft taking the umbrella out of the car and unfolding it, she then noticed it was indeed sprinkling slightly.

She ran back, surprising him. "What?" he asked. "Did you forget something?"

She pointed to the umbrella in his hand and he understood.

"Here," he grabbed her smaller one from the car. "Run on, you don't want to be late."

She smiled and hugged him quickly before taking off running into the building, just as the last of the school goers entered.

Mycroft blinked, he hadn't expected her to hug him. He straightened his shoulders ignoring the warm feeling in his chest.

Artemis looked in awe at the massive hallways, doors up and down, connecting to classrooms, and this was only the third grade! Fourth grade was down the halls, to the left, at least that's what the one lady had said.

She watched the students file into each room, she took out her sheet of paper and looked at the schedule, her first class was math, score! She always loved math, there was only ever one answer, and it was always easy to get to once you knew how.

She ran up to the one line in front of the math's door, she stood behind one girl and placed her paper back into her backpack.

"To your seats, students." A young man said as if he was bored.

"Good heavens, Will, a bit more pep!" an older man smirked behind the teacher's desk.

The man, Will, rolled his eyes and directed the children into the room.

Artemis brushed past him and looked around for an empty seat, she found one next to the girl she had stood behind, she walked over with her head down, her bangs covering her eyes. She managed to get a better look at the girl, she had light brown skin, and her eyes were chocolate colored, her hair was a curly brown and she was wearing the normal school uniform.

Once she took her seat, Will took a seat in the front, and started writing in his paper.

"Everyone, we have a new student joining us," the man behind the desk stood up. "Miss Artemis?" he looked around and spotted her with a smile. "Can you stand up sweetheart?"

She did as she was told.

"This is Artemis Holmes, please make her feel at home." Then he smirked. "Get it, Will?" he looked at the blonde man. "Holmes?"

Will bit his lip and sucked in a breath.

"Anyway, I'm Mr. Alex Hark." He said, ignoring the blonde boy now due to his lack of enthusiasm. "And this is William Kingsley, he's the HLTA." He rolled his eyes now and said it with a dramatic grumbled.

"You're brilliant at working with children, now I understand why you became an elementary teacher." Will quipped. "You're just like them."

"We take offense to that!" one boy shouted and the other children cheered.

"Hey!" Alex frowned playfully, then spotted Artemis, not sure whether to sit down or not. "You can sit down, darling." He said softly.

She nodded in thanks.

"How old are you?" one girl asked her loudly, as Will and Alex began bickering like an old married couple.

She held up seven fingers.

"Can't you talk?" another girl asked curiously. "Are you deaf?" she then smiled. "Can you read lips?"

Artemis shook her head to both questions.

"Bummer, I wanted to learn how to read lips." She pouted.

"It's raining!" a boy by the window said.

"We know that already, idiot." The girl next to Artemis sneered.

"I'm not an idiot, you are!"

"Great comeback!" she laughed.

"Thanks." He smiled proudly, not understanding her sarcasm.

"So if you're seven, does that mean you skipped a grade?" the boy behind her asked.

She nodded.

"I say, why doesn't she talk?" he asked.

"Maybe she just doesn't want to talk to someone like you!" the girl next to her snapped.

"Alright, don't bite my head off, blimey!" the boy frowned.

The girl then looked at Artemis. "I'm Melody, but you can call me Mel." Then she leaned in to whisper. "It's okay if you don't want to talk, my brother's a mute so I'm used to it."

Artemis's eyes widened.

 _Do you know sign language?_ Mel signed.

Artemis nodded. _When are they going to start the lesson?_

 _Soon, I hope. They're always like this_. She nodded to the arguing adults.

Artemis smiled as Alex finally groaned in frustration. "Fine, fine, you win, Will!" he said. "Now we are to start the lesson." He glared at Will's smug look. "Take out your books and turn to page one hundred and eighty-nine."

In unison, each child took out their text books and flipped to the correct page, Artemis took hers out and went to the assigned page; she started reading as Alex explained different things.

"Artemis," he called, she looked up suddenly, a bit shocked by it. "Can you come up here please?"

She slowly slid from her seat and walked towards the black board.

"Now, Artemis, I want you to solve this." He pointed to the question on the board.

He gave her the chalk piece and a stepstool so she could reach. She looked at him and swallowed, she never liking it when the spotlight was on her and right now, every kid was looking at her.

"It's alright, go ahead." He smiled reassuringly. "If you don't know it, I'll help you."

She nodded and stared at the problem. She quickly wrote the answer, seeing as she already knew.

"Good job, Artemis!" he smiled.

She smiled back and pointed to her seat.

"Yes, you can go back to your seat." He laughed lightly.

She nodded and started walking back to her seat.

"I wouldn't have been able to solve that so fast." Mel said.

"You must be really smart if you skipped a grade!" the boy behind Mel exclaimed, his dark hair floppy on his forehead and his uniform worn messily, he seemed smaller than Mel, probably only a little taller than Artemis. "I'm Henry by the way."

Artemis looked down and smiled slightly.

"Why don't ya talk?" he said.

"Shut up, Henry." Mel glared.

"Alright, alright!" he backed off.

And Alex continued his lesson, Will writing something in the corner, and Mel and Artemis signing each other secretly.

* * *

Lunch time came sooner than Artemis thought. She walked into the cafeteria, Mel was chatting about something and Henry was arguing with Mel pointlessly. She watched them bicker and silently got her food, it looked good.

She looked around and saw Mel and Henry call her over to a table. She started to them, but she heard a commotion beside her and saw two boys fighting.

"Get him, Peter!" an onlooker yelled at a boy with dirty-blonde hair.

"Get up, Arthur!" a girl frowned at the red haired boy.

"Oh, it's them again." Mel sighed. "I can't tell if they truly hate each other, or are they friends…?"

"I think even the teachers are getting sick of them…" Henry smirked.

Artemis looked at them as they tumbled about the ground.

"They're fourth graders." Mel explained to her. "And they're always fighting each other."

Artemis looked at her, and then concentrated on her food as they started yet another argument.

After she was done, Lunch still had another few minutes, so Mel and Henry chatted about a TV show that was on the previous night.

She started to get up, ignoring the sounds of the two boys beside her arguing, that is, until one bumped straight into her.

She fell down with a crash as her empty tray fell to the ground.

"Sorry, sorry!" he quickly apologized.

"Way to go, Peter, you knocked down a second grader." The boy, Arthur, laughed, but Peter was too distracted, he was staring at something and when Artemis followed his eyes, she saw one of her socks had fallen to her ankles, showing her scars.

"What…" he breathed, she quickly pulled her sock back up and stood. He stood as well, but didn't take his eyes off hers. "A-Are you okay?"

She nodded quickly and picked her tray back up; luckily it seemed no one else saw.

He looked away awkwardly. "Are you new here?" he asked.

She nodded.

"I'm Peter." He said and moved his shoulders awkwardly.

She nodded again.

"What's your name?" he asked.

She blinked slowly. _A-R-T-E-M-I-S_ , she signed.

"O-Oh!" he exclaimed, obviously thinking she was deaf. "I don't know sign language!" he yelled, thinking she could hear him if he yelled loud enough.

She winced and shook her head.

"She's not deaf," Mel came up and said. "And she said her name's Artemis."

"Oh." He scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Ah, come now, Mel, don't be hard on the poor boy." Arthur came up and slung an arm around Peter's shoulder. "He meant no harm, isn't that right?" he looked to Peter.

"T-That's right!" he exclaimed. "Geez, Mel, shouldn't you respect your elders?" He seemed to have gotten over his initial shock.

Mel scoffed. "And shouldn't you not pick on seven year olds?"

"I knew she was in second grade, but then why is she hanging with you?" Arthur blinked.

"She skipped a grade." Mel said, almost proudly.

"Really?" Arthur walked up to her. "So you're really smart then, yeah?"

She nodded, unsure of herself.

"Then hows about we make ourselves a deal…" he raised an eyebrow

* * *

 **Mycroft is experiencing some fatherly feels! So cute!**

 **So, I know it's a little early into the story to go on a break...but sadly, that's what I'm doing...**

 **I'm updating all my stories and might not update again until around summer break...maybe?**

 **Anyway, thank you to AnnaRooma for your review!**

 **WillowBranch out! Seeya guys later :)**


	5. Sherlock Picks Her Up

**Disclaimer: I do not own BBC Sherlock.**

* * *

"No." Mel got in between the two.

"There's no harm in it." he smiled innocently.

"What is it?" Mel asked suspiciously.

"How's about the two making the deal discuss that." He brushed her off.

"You picking a fight, Arthur?" she narrowed her eyes.

"Are you?" he looked raised an eyebrow. "And with an upperclassman…" he shook his head in mock disappointment.

"Go away, Arthur!" she ground out and gently pushed Artemis out the door. "And shouldn't you be getting to class?"

"Ah," he looked to Peter. "Let's go." Peter stared at where the two girls had just been in a daze, his mind was reeling. "Pete?" he waved his hand in front of his face. "You there, mate?"

Peter blinked and looked at Arthur. "Yeah, yeah no, I'm okay." He nodded dumbly.

Arthur smirked, unconvinced. "Yeah, okay…" he nodded to the exit. "Let's go."

* * *

The day went by slowly after that, it was mostly filled with Henry and Mel's bickering, and the occasional other person trying to talk with her.

But finally, the bell rang and all the kids flooded out the doors, Artemis was one of the last ones out, Henry and Mel right beside her.

"Is your Mum here yet?" Mel asked Henry.

"Yeah, there she is." He pointed to the car with a business looking woman on her phone in front of it. "See you later, Mel, Artie." He waved and walked down the steps.

Artemis blinked in confusion.

"Ah, Artie, I like the sound of that." Mel smiled. "Is that okay with you?" she looked at the smaller girl.

Artemis nodded; she had never had a nickname before, other than 'freak'…among other things.

"Do you see your parents?" she asked.

Artemis shook her head.

"Well, my Dad's over there." She pointed to a man who looked in his forties, talking to some other parents. "See ya!" she called and walked off.

Artemis waved with a small smile, waiting for Mycroft to show up.

Alex was walking out when he spotted her sitting on the top step. He sighed and sat beside her. "Parent's late?" he asked.

She nodded without looking at him.

"Bummer." He said and watched all the kids get picked up. "Do you want me to stay with you?"

She looked up at him and nodded slowly. They sat in silence for awhile, watching the last of the children get picked up.

Alex checked his watch and looked around, it was getting late.

"Do they know when school lets out?" he asked her.

She seemed to think about before nodding, Mycroft knew everything.

Alex leaned back with a sigh. "Wait, where's my son?" he looked around.

Artemis looked up in surprise.

He looked back down at her, noticing this. "Did you think I was just a bachelor?" he smiled. "Well…you got that part right, but I do have a son." Then he looked around again. "I just can never seem to find him; he's probably gone off with his friends again."

She bit her lip, aware that he didn't know sign language. She wanted to ask his son's name, but she knew the last name, 'Hark' if he had the same name as his father.

Suddenly, a taxi drove up, pulling Artemis out of her thoughts, was it Mycroft? If it was, then why was he in a taxi?

Much to her surprise, a familiar man with black hair and blue eyes stepped out.

"Artemis?" Sherlock looked up the stairs.

"Those your parents?" Alex asked.

She blinked, shaking her head would arouse suspicion most likely, but nodding would mean if Mycroft were to ever pick her up, Alex would know she lied. So she kept still.

"I don't understand why Mycroft couldn't get out of it." Sherlock shook his head to himself. "It's _his_ child, not mine."

"Erm…hello, I'm Artemis's teacher." Alex held out a hand to john. "Are you…her father?"

"My brother's her father." He said shortly.

Artemis looked up, she hadn't heard anyone call Mycroft her father…was he? She thought about it, legally speaking, the adoption hadn't been made official, so he wasn't technically her father, not by blood or on paper…so…was he? That was the question in her head at the moment Sherlock actually touched her physically for the first time.

"What are you spacing out for?" he asked as he picked her up, completely surprising her.

Her eyes widened.

"I called your name plenty of times, don't act surprised." He seemed ticked off as he tucked her under his arm and carried her down the steps, ignoring the teachers curious glance, he really just wanted to get back home.

She frantically signed for him to put her down, that she could walk, but it went unnoticed by him as they walked closer to the awaiting cab.

Finally, she just gave up and glared at the yellow car; Sherlock opened the door and practically tossed her in it.

"It was a pleasure to meet you." Sherlock forced a smile at Alex. "Right, let's go." Then he ducked into the taxi.

"You as well." Alex smiled and watched them leave. "Now, to find my son…" he sighed.

He started searching the grounds; pretty soon he heard the laughter of children coming from a shed in the gardens.

He stood by the door and knocked slowly, smirking when the chatter stopped.

"Who's that?" one boy whispered.

"Is it an adult?" another boy asked.

"Yeah, I can see him." The other boy looked out the small window.

"Who is it?" the first boy repeated impatiently.

"Oh, I think it's your dad." The boy in the window said to the second boy.

"My dad?" the boy asked. "Oh man, what time is it?"

"It's time for you to leave." Alex said.

"Bye." The first boy said cheerfully.

"That means all of ya." He smirked when he heard them groan.

"But Mr. Hark, we ain't doing anything." One boy opened the door.

"Now," he said firmly, watching them walk out of the shed. "We have to go." He put a hand on his son's back. "Come on, Peter."

"Bye." Peter said to his friends.

"I'll see ya later!" the red-headed boy waved.

"Do you need a ride, Arthur?" Alex asked.

"Nah, I'll take a taxi." He shook his head and headed to the streets, followed by the other boy.

It didn't surprise Alex that Arthur's weren't picking him up, it happened so often.

"That new girl's in your class, isn't she?" Peter asked as they reached the car.

"Yeah, you met her?" he opened the back door for the small boy.

"At lunch." Peter recalled bumping into her; he was about to ask his father about the scars on Artemis's legs, but then, after remembering her expression, decided against it.

"What do you want for dinner?" Alex slid into the driver's seat.

"Pizza?" Peter smirked, forgetting his troubles instantly.

"Pizza it is, and from your favorite place since you scored well on your test."

Peter leaned back with a smile. "I think Arthur wants to use the new girl to cheat on his test." He laughed.

Alex frowned; they both knew there was nothing he could do since Arthur wasn't in his class. "That sounds about right…" he laughed and shook his head.

* * *

 **End of break! Didn't last that long, I know, but aren't you happy? No? Whatever then...*kicks rock***

 **Anyway, I just watched the Abominable Bride...weirdest Sherlock episode yet! But a great one nonetheless.**

 **Thank you Claire for your review! I really appreciated it a lot, but I'm not sure if Artemis would ever go home crying, she strikes me as more of the "keeps-their-emotions-bottled-up-until-they-explode" kind of person.**

 **Can you guess who the unnamed boy playing with Peter and Arthur is? He's in the next chapter!**

 **Well, I guess that's it, until next time!**


	6. An Average Day with the Juveniles

It had been two weeks since Artemis's first day at school, and since then, she's sort of become invisible, much to her pleasure. She always hated being in the spotlight, so the only people that talked to her were Mel and Henry, and she liked it like that.

Mycroft had apologized for not picking her up when she saw him again her first day. Sherlock was none too pleased to have to pick her up, but luckily it hadn't happened again.

She walked into the cafeteria and saw Mel in a foul mood; her feet were up on the bench as she pouted.

 _What's wrong?_ She asked in sign language.

"Ah, Henry's being a…a…" she frowned, trying to think of the word. "Jerk." She decided on.

 _What did he do?_

"He told me I was cute." She scrunched her nose.

Artemis blinked harshly; it was a habit she had gotten in a foster home. _Isn't that a good thing?_

"Of course not!" she said. "I asked if I was beautiful!" she whined. "We were looking at a magazine, and all the models were so beautiful, and I asked if I was and he said…I was 'cute', what does that mean?" she exclaimed and banged her head against the table, surprising Artemis. "Oh well…ignore me." She sighed. "How've you been?" she lifted her head. "Since I didn't have maths with you today."

She shrugged, as if saying it was so-so.

"Good, so your day hasn't been _bad_." she reluctantly started eating her food.

Artemis sat down across from her and nodded, then started eating her food as well.

"Oh, there she is!" a voice shouted from across the room and Artemis saw a familiar red-headed boy waving wildly at her, she looked behind her and back at him, now he was grinning and jogging up to them.

"What do you want, Arthur?" Mel growled. "Go away."

"Looks like someone's in a bad mood." He smirked. "Luckily, I'm not here for you, I'm here for Artie." He grabbed Artemis's hand and dragged her out of her seat, apparently the nickname somehow spread to a few fourth graders..

"You can't have Artie, she's mine!" Mel grabbed Artemis's other hand and pulled her away.

Peter watched his best mate fight with the third grader over the poor girl. He sighed and decided not to get into that mess; he looked over and spotted Henry looking a bit down, by himself.

He walked over to him and sat down casually next to him. "Is it Mel?" he asked.

Henry didn't look up, only nodded slightly.

"She's so mean to you, why are you friends with her?" he asked, genuinely curious.

Henry sighed and leaned back, finally looking at Peter. "I s'pose…'cause she's my friend…"

Peter nodded in understanding; it seemed to be something that only the two elementary-schoolers could understand.

They both looked at the commotion, now Artemis was sitting back down and eating as Mel and Arthur argued heatedly.

"I feel bad for Artie…" Henry said.

"Yeah..." Peter sighed and rested his elbow on the table.

Henry gave him a sidelong glance. "She's actually kind of cute, isn't she?"

"Yeah…wait, what?" Peter narrowed his eyes at Henry who looked away innocently.

"Henry!" Mel frowned at him and grabbed the pudding cup on his tray. "Tell this idiot that Artie will never help him cheat!"

"And you took my pudding, why?" Henry asked as she tore open the top.

"Because I finished mine." She started eating it like it made complete sense.

"You'll get fat!" Arthur laughed.

"Shut up, Arthur!" she growled.

Artemis set her empty tray down at the counter and smiled at the sweet lunch lady. She then started to the door; she didn't know anyone in the next class so she wanted to get it over with.

"Not so fast, Artie!" Arthur called, making her freeze. "You have to help me with my homework."

"She doesn't have to help you with anything," Mel frowned. "And doesn't it pain you to have to ask a seven year old for help?"

"No it does not." Arthur said confidently.

"You're shameless." Mel rolled her eyes.

"He's always been shameless…" Peter laughed.

"What did you say?" Arthur narrowed his eyes at his best friend.

"I just agreed with Mel!" he defended himself.

Henry, knowing what was coming next, got up and placed his now empty tray at the counter like Artemis had, he then walked over to the silent girl. He had grown fond of her, she didn't make fun of him like Mel and she kept her opinions to herself, unlike Mel…and he knew it was an awful thing to think but, he quite liked the silence that came with hanging out with her. Although sometimes he wished she could speak, so then he wouldn't have to have Mel translate her sign language.

Mel got up as well, ignoring the two brawling nine year olds. "Class is in a few minutes, should we go ahead and leave?" she asked as she walked up to Henry and Artemis.

"That'd be nice." Henry said as he started to leave.

"Come on, Artie." Mel said, causing Artemis to follow her.

* * *

It was already time to go, Henry and Mel had seen their parents, right as they exited, and pretty soon every student had gone home. Alex had to stay behind since he was grading papers, so Artemis sat alone on the steps.

It was uncommon anymore for Mycroft to be late, and she didn't mind it because it meant he was working on something important, and to be the daughter of an important man caused her to smile at how ridiculous it was. But it made her happy to be the daughter of anyone…

She sighed and hoped Sherlock wasn't picking her up again, that would be inconvenient seeing as Sherlock didn't seem to like her all that much.

Suddenly she heard some hushed whispers on the side of the building, she didn't like to eavesdrop but there was nothing else to do while she waited.

"Come on, do it, Peter!" one voice urged.

"Alex's head gonna explode." A familiar voice chuckled lowly.

"Shut it, Arthur!" Peter growled quietly.

"Alright, Peter, but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity, are you afraid?" Arthur taunted.

"Of course not!" Peter exclaimed, only to be shushed by the other boys. "I'm not afraid." He said in a whisper.

"Then what're you waiting for?" the first boy asked.

There was a pause.

A small sound of someone walking that way made the three boys' head snap up. There stood Artemis.

"Oh, heya, Artie." Arthur nodded. "I thought everyone was picked up."

She shook her head.

"What, uh…what did you hear?" Arthur looked at the other boys before looking back at her.

She stared blankly at them, curious as to what this 'one in a lifetime opportunity' was.

"I'll assume you heard it all then…?" Arthur asked.

She nodded.

"Why aren't you with your mummy or something?" the unknown boy asked, not really knowing who she was.

"Parent's late?" Arthur asked.

She looked down, then back up with a nod. None of them noticed her hesitation.

"Yeah, same for Raz over here." Arthur gestured to the unknown boy. "That's why he comes over here to hang with us." he leaned in to whisper, but everyone heard him clearly. "He's not from money, so he goes to a normal school."

"Oh, yeah, you're that new girl aren't ya?" 'Raz' said, ignoring his more privileged friend.

She nodded, she didn't really think of herself as 'new' anymore seeing as she had been there for a couple weeks now.

"Artie, right?" he rested his chin on his knees. "Ain't that a boy's name?"

"Her real name's Artemis." Arthur explained.

"Still strange…" Raz rolled his eyes.

"Are you going to tell?" Arthur asked her.

She raised an eyebrow.

"I mean… _sign_?" he said, feeling a bit like an idiot. "About this."

She blinked harshly with a shake of her head.

"Good." Raz nodded. "Then why don't you scurry off and leave us boys to talking."

She did some signing that the boys could only imagine was either a string of curse words or some sort of insult…at least, going by her face as she did them.

"I'll take a wild guess and say none of you know sign language." A man's deep voice caused them to all look around, there stood a man, not as tall as everyone might think, with light blue eyes and sharp features, and his black hair was a curly mop on his head."What _are_ they teaching you here?"

Artemis wasn't sure whether to be disappointed it was Sherlock again, or happy that she could leave.

"Who're you?" Arthur asked rudely. Peter just sat quietly, having not said a word since they saw Artemis; he just couldn't bring himself to say anything to her...ever since he saw her legs.

"Let's go Artemis." He said like he was bored, ignoring the young boy's question.

"But we don't know ya, what if you're some kidnapper and we just handed over a little girl?" Raz took Artemis's hand and kept her in place, he hadn't known her for long, but he didn't want her disappearance on his conscience.

Sherlock raised an eyebrow. "I'm her uncle, aren't I Artemis?" he looked at the small girl, but she didn't seem to be paying attention, only glaring daggers at Raz's hand holding hers. She didn't like being touched unless she agreed to it.

"See, she doesn't know you!" Raz pulled her towards the other boys.

Sherlock sighed in annoyance. This was the last thing he wanted to be doing, if only Mycroft would stop making him pick her up, even if it was only twice now, Sherlock wished he wouldn't have had to pick her up ever.

"Come on, Artie, we won't let the bad man take you away." Arthur said, successfully irritated both Artemis and Sherlock.

"I have previous engagements, if you're not coming now, then I'm leaving you." Sherlock said and started to leave.

Artemis sighed and tried to get up, but Arthur and Raz's hands kept her down.

"Oh is your uncle picking you up again, Artemis?" Alex suddenly showed up from the stairs, and then he took in Artemis, sandwiched between the two boys and his son looking away awkwardly. "Am I missing something?"

"That really is your uncle?" Raz asked her casually. "Oh, my mistake." He and Arthur let go of her and raised their hands defensively.

"Why didn't you say so sooner?" Arthur asked, causing both Peter and Alex to sigh.

"Is he really going to leave you?" Alex looked back to Sherlock, who was flagging down a taxi.

She honestly wanted to say he wouldn't, but there was a creeping suspicion that he would without hesitation.

"Artemis…?" Peter finally looked up. "Will he leave you?" he was beginning to not like this 'uncle' of hers.

Her face clearly showed what she was thinking, then she looked at them and nodded goodbye before taking off towards the man getting in the taxi.

"Oh, decided to join me?" Sherlock said sarcastically. "I do have other things to do, you know."

She stared blankly at him for a moment before brushing him off and getting in the cab.

He frowned at her but otherwise ignored it.

* * *

 **Yay! I updated! somewhat within the weekend too...**

 **Did you like Raz? I felt I had to put him in this, you know? I liked his character and was a little disappointed when they never showed him again.**

 **Special thanks to AnnaRooma for your review!**

 **Sorry it's a little late, I couldn't get to my computer over this weekend, so I couldn't get to my documents either, to upload it.**

 **Thank you for reading! And have a super fantastic day!**


	7. Freak

"Artemis?" Mycroft looked up from his paperwork. "Have you been listening?"

She jumped and looked away from the window with a quick nod.

"Really?" he didn't look convinced. "Then tell me, what have I been talking about?"

She looked away guiltily.

"Yes, that's what I thought…" he sighed. "You need to know this if you want to succeed."

She rubbed her tired eyes and yawned.

"I know you're tired." He said. "I am too."

She glared at him as if saying ' _You never get tired_.'

"Alright, go to bed." He waved her off. "But you better wake up even earlier tomorrow so you can learn this before you go to school."

She nodded but grimaced at the thought of waking up early, she liked her sleep.

"Night." Vanessa said as she passed by Artemis in the hallway.

Artemis gave her a weird look, why was it Vanessa seemed to always be here? She understood that Vanessa had an important position as Mycroft's…assistant? Was she? Artemis had forgotten what Vanessa was.

But she supposed it didn't matter, Vanessa was there, and she'd probably be there for awhile.

She seemed content with that as she stepped into her newly renovated room; it was exactly as she had pictured seeing as she had given Mycroft her ideas of what she might like.

She walked drowsily over to her bed but before collapsing onto it, she remembered Mycroft and even Vanessa would be angry if she were to sleep in her clothes instead of changing into pajamas.

She walked over to her dresser that held all her pajamas, casual-wear, and underwear. The wardrobe held her school clothes and a few dresses that Mycroft had insisted she have, just in case she would ever need them.

She took out her favorite pair, the bumblebee long sleeved ones. She discarded her clothes in the basket in the bathroom that the maids emptied every day.

She climbed into the bed and looked at Leo, who was conveniently right above her bed, she watched him for a moment before her eyes became heavy and slowly drooped down.

She was already asleep when a man came in and smiled down at her.

"Well, my lovely." He knelt down. "One could almost believe you to be innocent when you sleep." He gently brushed some hair away from her face. "But you are far from it, aren't you?"

She frowned slightly, stirring slightly; she mumbled something about her dream.

"Hush now, its okay." He whispered and slowly placed a Freesia flower on her pillow. "Do you remember?" he asked. "You said this was your favorite…" he smiled sadly. "I miss you, Artemis." He said. "Everyone is too loud, but not you." He said. "You were always quiet."

He looked around the room and kneeled down beside the bed. "Do you ever miss me?" he asked as he looked back at her. "Artemis?" he leaned down. "Look at me!" he said urgently. "Please, Artemis, look at me!" he sounded desperate now and his eyes had a hint of insanity.

"Oh, I'm sorry." He flattened the blanket nervously, as if he had messed it up during his slight outrage. "You're sleeping, I remember how much you slept." He smiled nostalgically. "Oh Artemis, please tell me you remember me?" he pleaded. "I'm glad that you seem to be able to find happiness with this man, but please, tell me you haven't forgotten me?"

The corner of his mouth twitched upwards. "You helped me, even if you didn't realize It." he leant down and kissed her forehead. "I love you, Artemis, and I will wait for you." He got up. "Always."

He slipped out the window and made his way undetected by the guards and cameras.

* * *

The next morning, Artemis was awoken rudely by Vanessa.

"Mr. Holmes wants you to be up early, you know this!" she shook the girl.

Artemis simply waved her away and burrowed herself further into the covers.

"What's this?" Vanessa's curious voice suddenly made Artemis looked at her; she was holding a flower in her hand.

Artemis stared at it, hadn't she had a dream about something with a flower like that?

"Where'd it come from?" Vanessa looked around, only to notice the window open. "Did you open that?" she walked over to it and looked at Artemis, who shook her head. "I remember it being closed yesterday…" then a sharp intake of breath and a small and weak "Oh my God…" sent her flying out of the room and straight to Mycroft's study.

"How many times do I have to tell you, Vanessa, don't interrupt me when I'm in here!" he said sternly as she barged into the room, causing a few paper to fly.

She slammed a slightly crushed flower on the desk.

"What is this?" Mycroft was confused, he hated being confused.

"A Freesia flower." She frowned in concern. "That I found in Artemis's bed."

He wasn't surprised that Vanessa knew what type of flower it was, she did work for _him_ after all. "Meaning…?" he didn't like where his mind was going.

"The window was open, she said she didn't open it and I remember it being closed yesterday." She frowned worriedly.

He set his pen down and slowly got up; he walked over to the dining area where Artemis was eating cereal in her pajamas.

"Artemis," he called, alerting her. "Do you remember a flower being placed in your room last night?"

She actually vaguely recalled someone talking to her, but she was pretty sure that was just a dream. So she just shook her head.

"Are you sure?" he asked urgently.

She nodded.

He sighed and looked back at Vanessa. "And you're sure the window was properly shut when you saw it yesterday?" she nodded. "Then I believe I have a phone call to make."

* * *

Artemis went to school anyway, she wasn't sure why Mycroft and Vanessa were making such a fuss, but Mycroft had prioritized her 'safety' above what she was supposed to learn, so she didn't have any lesson.

He said that Sherlock would pick her up again, and that it might become the norm for awhile, until all of it get's sorted out.

Obviously, Sherlock was none too pleased to learn he had to spend unnecessary time with the little orphan girl Mycroft had decided to adopt. In fact, he just about threw a fit, one that Mycroft simply sighed at and called him 'childish'. Sherlock insisted that he had other things to do, that he was busy with graduating from his university, and also the odd cases Lestrade pulled up.

But in the end, Mycroft got him to agree, probably using underhanded tactics. What a great role model for her…

But she honestly couldn't care less about that because as soon as she walked into her classroom, she saw another student going through her desk.

She felt anger bubble up in her, it wasn't like she had anything in there besides some notebook and pencils, but that fact that someone invaded her privacy, something she had never had much of, was something she couldn't forgive.

She marched over to the girl, who noticed her immediately and accidently stubbed her toe when she jumped.

Now, Artemis couldn't exactly express her anger with words, so she settled with an icy glare.

The girl's demeanor quickly went from alarmed to full of herself. In a matter of seconds, the girl was returning the glare.

"Oh, you're here early." She said like she didn't care.

Artemis took a quick scan of the almost empty classroom, indeed, she was a bit early; Maths had let out a bit before the bell rang because Will and Alex had been arguing about the time.

Artemis brushed past the girl and inspected her desk, nothing seemed to be missing…oh wait. She got up and held out her hand as a gesture of 'gimme'.

"What is it?" she asked innocently. "Is there something missing? You know, I saw Raz walk in here and take something." She nodded. "You know Raz, don't you?" now that almost sounded jealous, or maybe angry? "He's a friend of Arthur and Peter's, of course you know him since you hang around them _all the time_."

Artemis wasn't paying attention to the girl anymore; instead she was watching the small brunette's hands behind her back, and a small corner of the blue notebook poking out.

She pointed to it and stuck out her hand again.

"What do you need?" The girl asked with mock concern.

Artemis glared at her and continued to hold out her hand.

"Oh, this?" the brunette lifted the notebook into view. "Why don't you ask for it?" she was clearly enjoying this, Artemis…not so much. If looks could kill, the brunette would be nothing more than a pile of ash right now. "Cat got your tongue?" she pouted slightly.

Alright, enough of this. Artemis shot at her and grabbed the notebook quickly, setting it down on the desk before giving the brunette a warning glance.

"Give it back!" the girl made a move towards the notebook but Artemis was faster and held the girl's hand in a tight grip, surprisingly strong for such a small girl. "Let go!" she jerked her arm back but to no avail. It was in a vice grip.

"Let go of her!" another student shouted, having clearly not seen what had gone down before Artemis grabbed her.

"Just 'cause you new and skipped a grade, don't make you better than us!" a boy frowned deeply.

"Yeah, always keeping to yourself like you're too good for us." Another boy said

Artemis blinked and looked at him, was that what they thought?

The girl took Artemis's moment of confusion and wrenched her arm away. "You called me dumb!" she said, loud enough for the other students to hear. "It really hurt my feelings; I was just trying to be your friend." Artemis's face was priceless. Obviously, the word of her being mute had not spread around.

"Don't forget you're younger than us!" a girl said.

"Yeah, my parents are always saying to 'respect your elders', so respect us!" a boy said and got up from his chair.

"Are you okay, Lily?" a girl suddenly rushed in and saw the brunette looking at everyone with innocent puppy-dog eyes. "What did you do?" she asked harshly to Artemis, who made a move to defend herself, but she realized no one there knew sign language, and none had seen 'Lily' snatch her notebook. The next words the girl who was currently hugging Lily who was sporting the 'kicked puppy' look uttered made Artemis freeze. "Freak." She said lowly.

Artemis started to shake her head.

"Why do you always wear stockings, Freak?" another kid asked.

"I wondered that too!" a girl exclaimed. So the news of the new girl always wearing stocking had spread further than her being mute? This was an odd school…

"Let's see you without them." Lily smirked secretly and lunged at Artemis.

"What are you doing?" a familiar voice was in the doorway.

Artemis, who had had her eyes squeezed shut when Lily moved to take off her stockings, opened one eye and looked in the direction of the voice.

There stood Peter, staring right at a now stammering Lily.

"I-I…I was just…uh…I was buckling her shoes for her." She stood up straight and pointed at Artemis's black, buckled shoes.

"What are you doing here?" Lily's friend asked. "Aren't you a grade above us?"

"I was walking to my class and I heard a commotion…" he frowned at Lily's obvious lie. "I believe I heard the word 'freak' thrown about." He noticed Artemis flinch.

While Lily was sputtering nonsense, trying to come up with a better lie, a boy in the class that had been sitting in the corner spoke. "Lily took Artemis's notebook and made some ugly comments, and then when Artemis took the notebook back, she tried to grab it again only to have Artemis grab her hand." He explained.

"Thank you, Fred." Lily hissed sarcastically.

"Anytime, Lily." He smirked.

A few students looked a bit ashamed. "Right, then all of you ganged up on her 'cause you've been itching for a fight?"

The looked down, but Artemis stared right at Peter, he hadn't talked much in front of her since their first meeting.

"Artemis, I heard your uncle is calling you to the headmaster's office." He added and slipped out.

Artemis's eyes widened in shock and she ran after him. When she caught up with him he was strolling casually and in her opinion, looked pretty cool.

"What?" he stopped and looked at her. "Got something on my face…?" he smirked, but the prolonged silence made him frown. "I don't really have something on my face, do I? That would be embarrassing." He gave a nervous chuckle.

She blinked and shook her head.

"Then…you should get to the headmaster's office?" he pointed down the hall. "It's straight down here and take a right, then it's the last door on your left." He nodded contently. "I'll be on my way then."

She watched him go down the corridor before stopping and giving her a worried glance. "You can remember all that, can't you?"

Of course she could, but she really didn't want to go alone so she shook her head.

He sighed. "I'll get the headmaster to write me a note for being late to class." He grumbled and took her hand. "Let's go then…" he started dragging her down the hallways.

* * *

 **Sorry I'm a day late...please forgive me!**

 **Also, I haven't been working on it, I'm starting to get back on it today, but just a heads up, I might be late next time as well.**

 **I, once again, didn't have access to my computer this weekend, I've figured out how to keep from doing this though, so just hang in there! And wow, I've put more chapters of this up in such a short time...I'm shocked, and it's all thanks to you guys!**

 **Don't forget to leave a review!**


	8. A Day With Uncle Sherlock

The two stood in front of the Headmaster's office, one was slightly nervous, the other was even more so.

Peter hadn't seen her uncle since he picked her up a few days ago, and he felt like he hadn't given a very good first impression, especially being associated with Arthur and Raz.

Artemis was nervous because it wasn't time for her to leave yet; she wondered if something had happened.

Peter opened the door and both adults looked at them. Will in the corner, since Alex had said he didn't need assistance in class.

"Hello…" Peter smiled nervously and looked at the Headmaster. "Um…Artemis didn't know the way so I showed her, could I get a note for class?" he asked. "To explain why I was late."

"Yes, of course." He nodded and took out a notepad and scribbled on it before tearing it out and handing it to the small boy.

"Thanks." He mumbled, avoiding Sherlock's stare. "Bye, Artemis." He waved and she smiled.

He nodded and walked out stiffly.

Artemis turned her quizzical gaze to Sherlock.

As if knowing what she wanted, Sherlock began explaining. "I can't pick you up later." He said. "So, you'll have to stay with me today."

She nodded.

"Good, we leaving then." He gave the Headmaster a glance of acknowledgement.

"Good day, Mr. Holmes." The man said with a sigh as the two left.

"His brother will be pissed." Will laughed.

"Indeed, but we'll simply say the younger Mr. Holmes forced us, right?" he looked towards Will.

"Alright." He nodded. "I wonder what he couldn't get out of that he had to take Artemis out early."

"That, William, is none of our business."

Will looked at him, then out the window where he saw Sherlock and Artemis walking silently to the cab.

* * *

"Mycroft would kill me if he knew I was taking you to a crime scene." Sherlock said as he got comfortable in the back of the taxi. He told the address to the driver and they were off.

"You should change; you don't want to dirty your uniform, here." He handed her a bag, it had her clothes from Mycroft's house. Sherlock instructed the driver to pull over at the next gas station. They got out and she rushed to the girl's bathroom, hurriedly took off her red, plaid jumper and white, button up collared shirt, and slipped on the soft gray shirt with the puffed up, short sleeves and the faded skinny jeans. She also put on a pair of black Converse.

Sherlock was waiting outside for her as they got into the cab again, they started driving and Artemis watched the buildings pass by, soon they were thinned down to a few trees, then vast fields and a few houses scattered. She frowned at the unfamiliarity. She didn't like not knowing where she was going.

As if he could sense her unease, Sherlock began explaining. "The man you met at my flat, he gave me a case yesterday, and a second body has turned up."

She turned to him so their eyes met.

"You wouldn't mind seeing a dead body, right?" he shrugged casually, earning a wary glance from the cab driver.

She shook her head.

"Good, no mental scars there then…" he noted.

She raised an eyebrow.

"You had only recently entered Roseway when Mycroft adopted you, that means there is a three year gap in our knowledge." He explained.

She swallowed nervously; she didn't want them to know…she didn't think Mycroft would want her if he knew.

"Naturally, that would make me curious, but Mycroft doesn't seem to care for some reason." Sherlock sighed.

The car suddenly stopped, lurching forwards.

"Ah, we're here, keep the meter running." Sherlock told the driver and got out, not waiting for her.

She scrambled out and saw a bunch of people in weird suits walking around, the house looked abandoned and the people looked at her weird, like they hadn't expected a kid to be there.

"Sherlock…" A man came up…he looked familiar…Lestroode? Lestroodle? She silently snickered to herself. "What's she doing here?" he asked with a frown directed at Artemis.

"Is it 'take your niece to work' day?" a man asked with a smirk.

Sherlock gave a glare at the man, then to Lespoode. "You told him." He said, more of a statement then a question.

"Yeah well…" he looked uncomfortable. "It's sort of funny, isn't it?" He gestured to Artemis. "Mycroft adopts a little girl…it's unexpected, you know?"

"Yeah, unexpected…" Sherlock glared at him with something akin to offense.

Artemis frowned slightly as the men moved on, why did Sherlock looked offended? Because Mycroft adopted her? No, it almost seemed like he was offended _for her_. Maybe because she couldn't voice her opinions, so if someone accidently hurt her by blurting out something stupid, she wouldn't be able to defend herself…was Sherlock, just now, a kind-of-good uncle? That would surprise her, considering he didn't seem to like her all that much.

"Artemis," Sherlock snapped on some rubber gloves. "Come along."

"No, Sherlock." Lestradoodle said. "You can't have a kid in there." He shook his head.

"Why not?" Sherlock frowned in confusion. "I want to see how clever she is."

"Because…" He looked disgusted. "Well, it's not just against the rules, it's also just _wrong_."

"Keep your morals to yourself at the moment." He said and swiftly turned back to her. "I asked you before if you'd mind seeing a dead body, now I ask you…do you want to?" he raised an eyebrow.

She blinked. Was she horrible for actually being curious? No, that seemed normal for a seven year old to be curious, not to mention the fact that she's read so many mystery books that she actually wanted to see a mystery up close. Is it wrong like Lestaple said? Would Mycroft mind? Yeah, he probably would…

She looked up suddenly and nodded.

Sherlock smirked, as if knowing what she had been thinking. Yes, Mycroft would definitely mind, but hey, he wasn't there, was he?

She trotted after him, Lespoodle shaking his head. She wasn't going to get his name right until she heard someone say it…

"Victim's late thirties, Betty Gilmore, going by her ID." Les-Miserables said.

Sherlock scanned the body, pulling out a magnifier.

"She's been here for at least a day…" Artemis drowned out his voice and focused on the small, red piece of paper hidden just at her height.

She slowly walked to it, neither Sherlock, nor Lestupid noticed.

She looked back to them for a second before reaching into the small crevice in the wall and pulling it out, using her sleeve so she would leave fingerprints. She looked up to the two men and watched Sherlock circle the body, she had to get his attention, but she wasn't sure how. He seemed too entranced.

So she went over to Lestopple and tugged at his jacket, when he looked down at her, he saw her holding up the paper.

"Where did you find this?" he asked with a frown, picking it up with his gloved hand. "Sherlock," he called, causing Sherlock to break away from the body and look to them both. "Look…" he seemed to be reading something.

"A note?" Sherlock gave a barely concealed smile at the turn of events. "Oh, Lestrade, it's Christmas!" he laughed.

"How so?" Lestrade… so that was his name.

"The killer left a note," he turned to Artemis. "Where did you find it?" he asked the same question Lestrade had asked.

She pointed to the small crevice and watched as Sherlock made his way to it.

"Why put it somewhere so low?" he asked no one in particular. "If he wanted us to find it, he could have put it next to the body, no he put it where we wouldn't see it unless we were on the ground." Then he frowned as he knelt down to look in the crevice. "Why?"

"I don't think it's for us…" Lestrade said.

Sherlock suddenly got up and walked over to him.

"Look," Lestrade held out the paper. "That doesn't seem like something a killer would leave for the police."

"' _To my darling, I hope you have fun, you liked this kind of thing, didn't you? With all my love, Smith'_." Sherlock read it aloud.

"We have a name then?" Lestrade said with a slightly hopeful smile.

"Yes, go find every 'Smith' you can in London, I'm sure it's not a very popular name." Sherlock rolled his eyes. "No one who was clever enough to leave no trace of themselves on the body would also be stupid enough to leave their real name."

"Then why bother with the note at all?" Lestrade asked, a little peeved at Sherlock.

"Well it's for someone, obviously. Someone who the killer knew would read it." Sherlock put two fingers to his temples, trying to concentrate on all the possibilities. "Think, who could it be?" he mumbled. "It's addressed to a woman…"

"Why do you think that?" Lestrade asked.

"'To my Darling' it says, a man usually says that to a lover, right?" Sherlock turned swiftly around.

"You're certain a man did it?" Lestrade pulled out a notepad.

"The angle of the blow to her head, it was made by someone taller, balance of probability."

"It could be a woman wearing heels." Lestrade suggested.

"You said she's only been here for a day or so, it rained quite recently, the mud outside would have been even worse when Ms. Gilmore here was murdered, who in their right mind would wear high-heels?" he looked at Lestrade like he was stupid.

"Alright then," Lestrade sighed. "So we're looking for a man associated with a woman that would be here, any chance we could narrow it down a bit?"

"Someone that would be in this room, and maybe at one point on the ground inspecting the body, then she'd see the note." They both seemed to ponder it for a second.

Artemis watched them as they began to list off different things; she looked to the note that was now in an evidence bag, had they noticed yet? She stared at it, contemplating telling them…but Sherlock interrupted her thoughts.

"Artemis, let's go, you'll be spending the rest of the day at my place." He said.

"You've got all you needed?" Lestrade asked.

"Yes, I'll contact you later." Sherlock walked swiftly out of the old house with the young girl at his side. He hesitated a bit as they neared the taxi. "What…what would you like to do?" he asked and looked in her direction, but not _at_ her.

She stopped dead in her tracks and stared at him like he had just grown two heads.

"Mycroft informed me that you might not enjoy the things I do." He explained.

* * *

 _"_ _I have to pick her up again?" Sherlock whined as he set down the violin. "What was the point of getting a child if you won't even spend time with it?"_

 _Mycroft sighed and glanced around the room, it was a mess, as usual. "Sherlock, Artemis is a 'her' not an 'it'." he explained. "And I need you to pick her up today, spend some time with her, do things she wants to do…and keep a close eye on her."_

 _This caught Sherlock's attention. "Why am I supposed to keep a close eye on her?" he asked._

 _Mycroft looked down, worry creasing his forehead. "It's none of your concern, but you'll pick her up, right?" he looked back to his younger brother._

 _Sherlock rolled his eyes. "Yeah sure…but don't expect me to entertain her."_

 _"_ _Sherlock, please." Mycroft grumbled. "She won't like watching you study or doing an experiment, she doesn't like watching at all!" he took a deep breath to calm himself. "Just…take her to the park, maybe eat out with her."_

 _"_ _Eat out?" Sherlock exclaimed. "How long do you plan on having her here?"_

 _"_ _Honestly?" he looked to him with serious eyes. "I'd like to keep her here indefinitely, but that's not an option."_

 _"_ _You're damn right it's not an option." Sherlock scoffed. "Mycroft, I don't know the girl."_

 _"_ _Then_ get _to know her, she'll be around for a long time." Mycroft said. "She's your niece, Sherlock, be an uncle."_

 _"_ _I don't know how…" he groaned and threw himself onto the couch, running both hands through his hair._

 _"_ _I know this is sudden," Mycroft tried to sympathize. "But it's not for long, just until I get all this sorted out."_

 _"_ _Get what sorted out, Mycroft; I don't like being kept in the dark, especially when I'm being pulled into the middle of it."_

 _"_ _It doesn't concern you, just…please." He ground out. "Sherlock, please keep her close."_

 _Sherlock eyed him. "You're growing quite attached to her, aren't you?" he smirked. "She's not just an heir anymore, is she?"_

 _Mycroft glared at him. "You'll take care of her then?" he asked, ignoring Sherlock's question._

 _"_ _Yes, I will." Sherlock sighed and got up, opening the door, allowing Mycroft to leave. "Now go, I have things to take care of."_

 _Mycroft nodded and started to leave, but when Sherlock closed the door, he wedged his foot in the doorway. "And, one more thing, Sherlock," he said. "Don't get high in front of her, alright?"_

 _Sherlock glared at Mycroft, but realized that he wouldn't move his foot unless Sherlock gave him a definite answer._

 _"_ _I will not 'get high' in front of her." He said with gritted teeth._

 _Mycroft gave a smug grin and removed his foot. "Goodbye, brother mine."_

 _Sherlock slammed the door and huffed in irritation. He wasn't the one that chose to adopt a little girl. Stupid Mycroft._

* * *

"So…the park?" Sherlock asked awkwardly as they neared London again.

Artemis looked at him and slowly nodded, she hadn't gone to the park yet, maybe it would be fun.

"Mycroft had told me about a park near your school, he wants you to go to that one." He gave the directions to the cab driver and glanced at her, was she entertained? It was hard to tell with her, her face was almost always blank…why was that?

He had heard that most kids were very responsive, why was Artemis only ever smiling when something really good happened?

He watched as a rather large, expensive looking park came into view, it was in a rich neighborhood so of course it would be very high-quality.

They exited the cab and Artemis-for once-waited while Sherlock paid the man. She looked around, there were some kids in her school's uniform playing, and some were in casual clothes but she still recognized them. She guessed the school had already let out. She glanced back to Sherlock and gestured for her to run on and play.

She took a deep breath and prepared herself for the joyful but earsplitting screams of the children, the inevitable bump that would knock her down, caused by a kid running without looking where they were going.

She walked into the area, going past the low fence. She wondered if anyone would recognize her after today's debacle with Lily, she honestly wished she could blend into the blue slide that was next to her.

As the thought of becoming a chameleon passed through her mind, she didn't notice the presence of the three boys crouched down underneath the slide, carefully watching her feet with fearful eyes.

One boy's stomach gurgled and the other's head whipped toward him, he quickly put a finger to his lips and shushed him.

They watched as the unfamiliar feet shuffled nervously a bit. They assumed it was a girl, and because of that, the red-headed boy smirked evilly and reached his hand out, the boy with dirty-blonde hair shook his head at him, telling him not to do it with his eyes.

The red-head ignored his friend and suddenly grabbed the ankles.

Artemis gasped and fell to the ground with a thud, she heard some snickering, but ignored it as she quickly checked to make sure her legs weren't showing. The feeling of someone grabbing them made her want to cry, but she didn't.

She looked up to see the attacker, only to find three familiar boys hiding beneath the slide, one boy had his knees tucked into his chest, he was glaring daggers at the red-haired boy, sitting casually beside them was a boy with brown hair snickering along.

The red-haired boy still had his hand outstretched; Artemis stared at him as he glanced over at her to see who he had tripped.

Arthur…

They made eye contact, blue eyes meeting hazel. His smile slowly fell away as they stared at each other, obviously seeing the hurt in her face. Something in him felt _guilty_ , he swallowed it down and ignored the fluctuating pitter-patter of his heart.

Peter looked up and saw the two looking at each other; it was an odd feeling erupting in his chest, constricting and painful, he didn't like it.

"A-Artie?" Arthur blinked, a frown growing on his face.

* * *

 **Ahem...so remember when I said I had, well, found a solution to my "updating on Sundays" thing?**

 **Well, that didn't work out...because I forgot...because I'm forgetful.**

 **Anywho, at least I didn't update on Monday again, right? Hehe...yeah.**

 **Geez, this heat is killing me...**

 **On to special thanks: AnnaRooma and pumukle91, thank you so much for your supercalafragalisticexpialadoshus reviews!**

 **Thank you, and goodbye.**


	9. Cutest Boys in Fourth Grade

**Okay, so it's still around 7:00...this is progress for me.**

* * *

"What are you doing here?" he slowly crawled out from under the slide and held out a hand to help her up. "Pete told me you went with your uncle."

Artemis looked at his hand and carefully reached out to take it, he pulled her up and she motioned to Sherlock, who was sitting on a bench studying for an upcoming exam.

"Well, funny we should run into our favorite mute." Raz said as he stood. Artemis frowned, and Peter punched Raz's arm. "What?" he exclaimed and rubbed where Peter had hit him.

"Stop being a jerk, Raz." Peter sighed and frowned.

"Oi," Raz frowned back. "I didn't do anything wrong, it was Arthur."

Arthur was still staring at Artemis. "I'm sorry." He tore his eyes away from her.

Raz and Peter stopped glaring at each other and turned to look at Arthur, who was staring at the ground.

"Did he…?" Peter trailed off.

"Arthur just apologized…" Raz's eyes went wide. "To a girl…" he suddenly broke out in a grin. "Arthur has a crush~!" Raz sang.

Arthur's eyes shot up to Raz and his face was murderous.

"Raz, stop that!" Peter panicked. "He's going to kill you."

Raz kept dancing and singing. " _Arthur and Artie sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!_ "

Arthur suddenly took off towards him, causing Raz to grab onto Peter's jacket and pull him in front of him; causing Arthur accidentally punched Peter's face instead.

Peter fell to the ground and looked up at Arthur and Raz.

Artemis's eyes widened and she covered her mouth to stifle her gasp, it looked like it hurt, and the tears prickling in Peter's eyes showed that it did.

Peter glanced to Artemis and reminded himself that she was here, he can't look weak.

"Sorry, Pete." Arthur at least had the decency to look guilty. "You okay? Man, I really got you too…" he crouched down and looked at the busted lip.

"Yeah, sorry Peter." Raz shifted on his feet. "Reflex kinda kicked in there…"

Peter looked at each of them, a deep frown creasing his forehead. "You two are idiots!" he yelled and jumped onto Arthur, tacking him onto the ground.

"That-a-boy!" Raz grinned, knowing that Peter wasn't really mad.

Artemis watched the two boys wrestle on the ground, she was confused, utterly confused. So she left. She silently walked away with a " _what just happened?_ " face.

"Are those your friends?" Sherlock asked as she neared him, his face showed disgust as he watched them.

She shook her head at his question and looked down at his books.

"Quite rowdy, aren't they?" Sherlock looked at her, and then noticed her reading his chemistry books. "Do you understand this?" he asked, she shook her head. "Here, I'll show you." He sighed and picked up the book she had been looking at. He explained the different theories best that he could, trying to make it to where she could understand.

She nodded, her nose slightly scrunched up, she was trying to process it all.

Sherlock smirked and tried to repress his laughter, she looked so funny with her nose like that, her brow furrowed in concentration. He took the time to study her features; she looked like him, in an odd way. Black, wavy hair that reached just past her shoulders, striking, deep blue eyes, he even noticed a few subtle freckles dotting across her nose.

"Do you understand?" Sherlock asked.

She looked away for a second and shook her head.

"That's fine, you'll have plenty of years to learn." He said and closed the book. "I have to study a bit more, why don't you go play and we'll leave in, say…twenty minutes?"

She nodded and went over to the swing set.

"Oh…hey." A girl said to her as she neared the swings. "You're that mute that got into a fight with Lily, right?"

Artemis slowly nodded, she didn't think she got into a fight with her, but she argued…well, in her own way…

"I bet Lily was red in the face!" a boy next to them laughed.

"I heard Peter save you!" the first girl said. "Oh, if only he'd save me!"

Another girl giggled. "Peter's so cute!" she said. "And smart, did you know he's got the highest grade in his class?"

"I feel like Arthur would get higher grades if he studied." The first girl said.

"Arthur doesn't have time to study, he's too busy planning pranks and getting detention." The boy rolled his eyes. "Honestly, I don't see what you guys see in them."

"They're the cutest guys in our class!" the first girl squealed.

"Don't you think?" the second girl looked to Artemis.

She blinked at them in confusion, what had they been talking about?

"That Arthur and Peter are the cutest guys in our class…well, the class above you?"

Artemis thought about it.

"Yeah, Artie, don't you think?" a familiar voice rang out and she looked up to see Arthur striking a pose.

The boy rolled his eyes as the girls giggled.

"Pete, you think we're the cutest guys in our class?" Arthur looked to Peter.

"Of course, Arthur, we're not only the cutest, we're the hottest." Peter struck a pose as well, a smirk playing on his mouth.

"Well said, Pete." Arthur nodded. "Raz, why don't you take our picture?"

Raz came up and put his hands in the form of a camera and made sound effects with his voice.

The girl's continued to giggle, even Arthur started to smile. They were idiots…all of them.

"That'll do fellas." Raz put his hands down and gave a thumbs up.

"Thank you, Raz." Arthur gave a smug look. "Sorry your looks just aren't as good as ours."

Raz rolled his eyes. "You jerk." He said in a joking manner.

"Well, Artie?" Arthur turned his attention to her. "What do you think?"

Peter turned to her, smiling, as did Raz.

She grinned and stared at them, all were looking expectantly at her. She nodded reluctantly.

"Yes!" Arthur laughed and high-fived Peter. "We got little miss Artemis's approval, Pete, we are officially the cutest guys in fourth grade."

"Congratulations." Raz clapped.

Artemis tapped Raz's shoulder and he looked down to her. She pointed at him too.

"Me?" Raz frowned. Arthur and Peter stopped laughing and looked to them.

Artemis nodded seriously and then smiled sweetly at him.

His ears turned red and he looked down at his feet, not being able to looked at her earnest expression anymore. "Thanks, Artie." He mumbled and glanced at her with a weak smile.

"Raz is the cutest guy too?" Arthur groaned. "I have _more_ competition?"

 _H-e-n-r-y_ Artemis signed.

"I'm…I'm not sure what she said." Peter looked to Arthur, who just shrugged.

 _Henry's the cutest guy in third grade, and Mel's the cutest girl._ She signed.

They frowned.

"You think so, Artie?" a soft voice sounded behind her and she turned around and saw Mel and Henry.

"What?" Arthur asked. "What did she say?"

Mel smiled and ran up to hug her. "I believe you're the cutest girl, Artie." She said.

Artemis blushed and looked down, shaking her head. They don't know about her scars…except for…

She glanced at Peter; he looked as confused as Arthur.

"Yeah, Artie, you're cuter than Mel." Henry said.

Mel suddenly whipped around and glared at him. "You know, you do wonders for a girl's self esteem." She said sarcastically.

"There's a difference between cute…and what you are." He frowned.

"And what am I?" she demanded.

Artemis, feeling a fight coming on, smiled to herself. She looked back to Arthur and Peter, they were talking to Raz and trying to figure out what she had said, Mel was barking insults at Henry as he sighed and patted her shoulder to calm her, which it surprisingly did. These were her friends, and she wouldn't trade them for anything.

"Artemis." Sherlock called her.

"Oh, you're uncle is here?" Mel looked to him. "Oh, he's so handsome." She said dreamily.

Artemis scrunched up her nose in disgust. _Sherlock? Handsome?_ She signed.

But Mel didn't see her, she just sighed.

" _That's_ what you think his handsome?" Henry scoffed. "Please, he's just a pretty boy."

Mel punched his arm. "Shut up, don't talk about my future husband like that."

Artemis shook her head as Henry rolled his eyes. "You can't marry him, he's too old for you."

"Love knows not of age…" she said, like she was quoting a book.

"Don't repeat what your mother says, she crazy!" Henry scoffed.

Artemis chuckled.

"Artemis, come on!" Sherlock put his books back into his bag and slung it over his shoulder, beckoning her.

She nodded at him and started to walk towards him, but stopped and looked back at the five kids behind her and waved with a smile.

"Bye Artie!" Arthur gave a big wave. "See you tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow's Saturday." Mel said.

"It is…?" Arthur looked wide-eyed at her, then back to Artemis. "See you Monday then."

She nodded at him and made her way back to Sherlock.

"Ready?" he asked, but didn't wait for an answer before stopping a taxi and climbing in.

* * *

It was dinner time, Sherlock had been in his room all day, leaving Artemis to watch TV and read as much as she pleased.

But now she was hungry, and he showed no sign of coming out any time soon.

She looked around the kitchen and found basically everything _but_ food. There were even thumbs in a bag in the fridge.

She finally looked in a cupboard above the sink and found some old bread, mold was covering it. She gagged and closed the door immediately.

She sighed and looked at his door, should she disturb him? Tell him she needed food? No, she'll find something.

She eventually found an apple and ate that, it was enough.

She went back to reading and finished the book after an hour or so, it was a pretty short book.

She glanced at the violin case that was leaning on the bookshelf. Did Sherlock play the violin?

"Do you play?" Sherlock surprised her, he was standing beside her.

She shook her head.

A smirk suddenly appeared on his face. "Would you like to learn?"

She smiled brightly; she had always wanted to learn an instrument.

"If you are to be my niece, you'll have to know some sort of musical instrument." He said. "And you'd like it to be the violin?"

She nodded.

"Very well, this might be a bit too big for you, but here." He opened the case and held out the violin. "Hold it like this," he demonstrated, and then handed it to her.

He was right, it was a little too big for her, she'll have to ask Mycroft for a child-sized violin when she sees him again.

"Put your hand here." He placed her fingers on the strings. "Now gently move the bow across the strings." He said, taking his hands away.

She did as she was told, but tensed up when a screeching noise sounded out.

Sherlock gripped her hand to make it stop, his face was pained. "That's…that's enough of that for now, you can practice later."

She smiled shyly and set the violin down. _When is Mycroft coming back?_ She signed.

Sherlock swallowed and ran a hand through his hair. "Not sure…" he mumbled. "Soon, I hope."

* * *

Meanwhile, Mycroft sat at his desk, barking orders into his phone. Vanessa stood in the corner of the office, her face grim but otherwise impassive.

That still had yet to find out who had broken into Artemis's room, and the more time that passes, the more stressed Mycroft became.

Vanessa has never seen him like this, nothing ever got to him…but for some reason, the strange little girl did. He cared more about her safety than he did for himself, his eyes were tired and he was constantly rubbing his temples as if he had a headache.

A call suddenly came in on her Bluetooth; she pressed the button on her earpiece.

"This is Vanessa Holden," she said, Mycroft watched her carefully, she was silent for awhile, an irritated frown forming on her youthful face. "Mr. Holmes, it will take a bit longer, is this an emergency?" another long pause, and Mycroft knew her well enough to know when she wanted to roll her eyes, but being the professional that she was, she didn't. "Mr. Holmes," she addressed Mycroft this time. "Your brother would like to know when you are collecting Artemis, and he's very insistent in speaking with you."

Mycroft sighed. "Tell him that I'll send someone around ten, and then transfer his call to someone else." He waved her off and looked back to his computer.

"Someone will be there around ten, thank you for your call Mr. Holmes." She said and pressed another button on the ear piece, satisfied that Sherlock would be angry for being transferred to an unsuspecting, lower office worker.

"It's late, Vanessa, you can go home, if you like." Mycroft said, glancing back to her. "You came in early today, after all."

Her business-like face slipped and she sighed. "With all due respect sir, I would like to get to the bottom of this as well."

Mycroft, knowing better than to argue with her, nodded and went back to work.

After a few minutes, he glanced back to her again. "Is there anything you need? Do you want to call your family?"

"I have none, sir." She said, surprising Mycroft, he had never really bothered to read her personal file. "Is there anything else I can do?"

"I have it under control here, why don't you go get me some tea, and tell Kingsley I'll need that report, make it top priority."

"Yes sir." She nodded and made her way out the door.

Mycroft sighed and looked back to the computer, but he couldn't quite focus on it. He had fired several security personnel due to the break in, they already knew the person had come in through the window, but why Artemis? Why not go into his room?

No, it was personal…this person went to Artemis for a reason.

And why the flower? What significance does it have? A Freesia flower…

He searched up the meaning of it, what else could he do?

Innocence, trust, friendship…silly, meaningless things. Was the type of flower even important? It must be, otherwise it would probably have been something common, like a rose or daisy or something.

He'd have to ask Artemis.

A sudden ache made its way to his chest; he hadn't seen the young girl since that morning. Surprisingly, he found that he missed her. He had grown fond of her, Sherlock was right…was that so bad?

She was his daughter, after all. Surely it was fine for him to care for the girl that would grow to be his heir, right? Everyone else does it…but then again, everyone else is rather idiotic.

"Sir…" Vanessa's voice rang out on the intercom.

Mycroft frowned, she usually called him, and she was still in the building, so why not just come into the office?

"What is it, Vanessa?" he asked.

"There's umm…there's someone to see you." She said, her voice wavering slightly.

Mycroft wondered briefly if security was anywhere near. "Alright, Vanessa, shall I come to you?"

"P-Please, sir." She said.

Mycroft sighed and got up, slipping his suit jacket back on and straightening his tie, he closed the tabs on his computer and walked briskly to the door.

He walked to the reception desk and saw Vanessa standing there, a knife at her neck, her eyes wide with fright.

And then there was the man behind her, he could tell it was a man because of the build and the unkempt stubble on his face, along with a scar in the corner of his mouth, but the rest of his face was covered by the black hoodie he was wearing, he also had faded, torn jeans that looked filthy, and brown boots that had mud caked along the sole.

The man shifted nervously under Mycroft glare, his mouth twitching and his tongue darting out to lick his lips.

"Hello, Mr. Holmes." Vanessa said with a deceptively calm voice, but Mycroft could hear the worry in her voice.

"Hello, Vanessa, won't you go into my office and wait there for now?" he nodded.

Vanessa took a calming breath and slowly started moving away from him. His hold on her arm tightened for a moment as well as his grip on the knife, his hands were gloved. Mycroft saw the contempt when his mouth turned downwards, but he eventually did let go of her.

"Go." Mycroft said sternly when Vanessa turned and stared at the man. "Now!" he barked and she scurried away. "You don't wait, do you?" he said, taking a step towards the man. "Only leaving that flower on Artemis's bed this morning…you're not a very patient man, are you?"

"Oh," he breathed. "I am much more patient than you think, but I'm tired of waiting, I'll take what's mine now." His voice dropped to a menacing tone.

"And what is yours?" Mycroft asked casually, leaning against the reception desk.

The man's mouth suddenly turned upward into a maniacal grin. "Artemis," he said, saying her name like it could save his dark soul. "My beautiful girl is mine, and I will not let anyone take her away from me."

Mycroft's eyes widened fractionally. "You…" he breathed. "You're her father…?"

"Indeed, Mr. Holmes, and it would do you good to remember that." He smirked, dropping the knife to the ground, Mycroft eyed it curiously, a simple pocket knife. "Too bad you won't live to remember." He suddenly reached behind him and pulled a handgun out, aiming it at Mycroft. "Goodbye, Mr. Holmes, say hello to Jane for me." He grinned.

Mycroft registered the sound of the shot….and everything went black.

* * *

 **Did'ya like it?**

 **Special thanks to Happyritas for your reviews!**

 **I'm not sure what else to put...so I'll end this here.**

 **Bye bye, ya'll, and have a great Fourth of July!**


	10. Mind Palace

Mycroft felt his body hit the ground, had he been shot? There was no pain…

"Mr. Holmes?" a concerned voice sounded out, but it was slightly fuzzy… _great,_ he was in shock. "Mycroft!" the same voice sounded angry now.

He blinked and stared at the concerned face, now registering it to be Vanessa. He swallowed and gripped tightly on her arm, supporting himself, trying to clear his mind, he looked over to the man, but no one was there.

"He fled." She said, disgust evident in her voice.

Mycroft shook his head and went to stand up.

"You're bleeding." She said looking at his head. "Wait here." She scurried off and came back with a few napkins. "Here," she started wiping away the blood as Mycroft looked absently at the door. Who was he? Then he remembered what the man had said right before he shot at him…Artemis's father? No, it couldn't be true, he didn't look like her…but then again, Mycroft didn't see very much of him.

"What happened?" he asked as she threw away the bloodied napkins.

"He shot at you, but he missed." She said without looking at him.

"Then how did I end up on the ground?" he asked and put his hand to his head, only to wince when he felt the large gash. "And I hit my head."

"I um…I knocked you down, sir." She said shyly.

"Didn't I tell you to wait in my office?" he raised an eyebrow as she glanced at him.

"With all due respect, sir, I did just save your life." She said with a hint of amusement.

"Yes, you did…" he said thoughtfully. "I suppose I'll forgive you this one time."

She smiled.

"But then again…" he continued. "You called me 'Mycroft' instead of Mr. Holmes."

Her smile fell suddenly. "No I didn't." she said blankly.

"Yes, you did." He smirked.

She frowned and stomped off, leaving Mycroft smirking, leaning against the reception desk, dabbing his wound with a napkin, but before she exited the large room, she turned and glared at him. "And get that checked, sir." She said and kept walking.

He chuckled.

* * *

Sherlock paced around the room, wondering what to do with the sleeping girl on his couch. Mycroft said someone would be there around ten, it was fifteen minutes past now.

Artemis had fallen asleep shortly after reading a short book, now she was curled up in his chair, and he didn't want to move her for fear of waking her up.

He sighed and sat down on the couch, putting his hands into a steeple under his nose, he stared into the blank screen of his television. This was too boring, so he got up and headed to his room, leaving the small girl to herself.

Once inside the bedroom, he shut the door quietly and took off his robe, leaving him in just a T-shirt, he sat down on the bed and laid back.

He concentrated and slipped into his Mind Palace easily…with a little help from his syringe

As soon as he entered, his looked around and saw only the white hallways, but down at the very end, there was a small figure.

That was new, so he focused on it, trying to figure out who it was, but he finally realized…Artemis.

Only, her face was split into a grin and her hair was in curly waves down to her shoulders, her bangs were brushed to the side. He saw she was wearing a colorful sundress with cap sleeves and a flowing skirt, she was barefoot…and there were no scars on her.

He frowned at her and started walking to her, but with every step he took, it was as if the hallway got longer. He finally stopped and accepted that he would never reach her, but her smile never faltered and it was unnerving.

He groaned in irritation and went to the destination he had been thinking of, but whenever he looked back, she was there, smiling. He

"Great, that was a waste of a trip." He said with a sigh, standing back up and looking down at Artemis, she was smiling again.

 _Goodbye._ She signed, no longer speaking.

Sherlock gasped as he jolted up in bed.

Artemis stood wide-eyed beside him, her hands up like she had been shaking him.

He stared at her, taking her appearance, his shirt was long on her but still left her legs uncovered, they were scarred…good.

"I'm back…" he breathed a sigh of relief.

 _What happened?_ She asked in sign language.

"Nothing…" he said. Her eyes landed on his bedside table; on top was the syringe he had used, sitting in a case with the tourniquet, his eyes followed her and he snapped it up and put it in the drawer.

An awkward silence fell over them, Sherlock looked at the window and noticed there was light coming from it, he frowned and walked over to it, stepping on his bed to get to it. "It's…day?" he asked her and she nodded. "And Mycroft hasn't picked you up yet?"

She shook her head. In fact, she had been scared when she woke up, she didn't realize where she was for a second and…she wanted to call out for Mycroft. She quickly shook that thought from her mind.

"Alright," he sighed. "I'll call him, should you…I don't know, wash up?" he sat back down on his bed, not really sure of what he was supposed to do.

She usually took baths at night, but she didn't last night and she felt dirty, so she nodded.

"Okay, I'll…um…run the bath, I suppose." He shrugged and got up, brushing past her.

She watched him go, he looked strained, his eyes were odd and his hair looked damp from sweat. Her eyes went to the drawer he had stuffed the syringe's case into.

She looked down. Sherlock might not think she knew exactly what it was, but she wasn't that ignorant…one of her foster dads, he always shot up, and when he did he got really weird, even worse than when he was drunk.

She heard the water start running and started to the door, she saw Sherlock crouched in the bathroom floor, his hand under the water, testing the warmth.

He turned around and saw her, then got up. "It's ready, I'll be in the living room." He left the room, leaving her by herself.

When he stepped into the living room, he closed his eyes with a sigh and got out his phone.

…It went to voicemail.

He called again, aggravated at Mycroft even more now. "Come on," he growled at the inanimate object in his hand. "Answer, you miserable _bore_."

"Hello?" Vanessa's voice suddenly crackled through the electronic.

"Vanessa, where is my brother?" he barked.

"Mr. Holmes is occupied at the moment, may I take a message?" she said, her voice carried a hint of disdain.

"Someone was supposed to pick up Artemis last night." he said angrily, he didn't particularly like Vanessa.

"You didn't get my message?" she asked, now she sounded genuinely curious.

"What message?" he looked back to the bathroom door, she was still in there.

"A…" She paused, as if searching for the right word. "Unavoidable incident happened, I'm afraid we won't be able to collect Ms. Holmes until later." She said, actually sounding sincerely sorry.

"An incident?" he scoffed.

"Yes, will you be able to care for her until we can get her?" she asked.

Sherlock sighed and heard the bathroom door click as it opened, revealing Artemis with a fluffy towel wrapped around her, she had even put the edge of it on top of her head and a soft frown creased her small face…she looked absolutely adorable.

Sherlock rolled his eyes when he saw some water was dripping onto his floor. "Dry yourself off better." He said.

"Mr. Holmes?" Vanessa asked from the other end of the phone.

"Yes, I'm here." He walked over and ushered the small girl into bathroom again. "She doesn't have extra clothes, does she?" he asked Vanessa.

There was a pause before she spoke again. "I…don't believe she took any with her, but I'd have to ask Mr. Holmes."

"No, no she didn't, did she?" Sherlock mumbled. "Do I just put her back in the ones she slept in?"

Vanessa sighed into the phone. "No, those will be dirty; do you have a button-up shirt?"

Sherlock frowned. "Yes?" he went back to his room and pulled out a green button-up.

"Okay, now get the smallest belt you have." She ordered.

He frowned in confusion and walked to his closet and rooted around the mess, he finally found the small belt that didn't fit him anymore, but he forgot to throw away. "Got it." he said.

"Just put those on her, it'll should like a dress if you do it right, and roll up the sleeves." She said before hanging up.

He peeked around the corner to see her sitting on the couch with the towel still around her, but her hair was puffed up as if she had been drying it roughly.

"Here," he tossed them to her. "You can button things, right?" he asked.

She frowned at him, seemingly insulted before lifting her chin defiantly and gesturing for him to leave the room.

He rolled his eyes and turned back into his room, getting out his own clothes. He got dressed in a pair of torn, old jeans and a plain T-shirt, he slipped on a dark blue hoodie and ran a hand through his bed-head, it didn't do much good but it did help a little.

He looked in the mirror and saw his blood-shot eyes. Sighing a little, he looked away. Had Artemis seen? Of course she had. Would she tell Mycroft? He shook his head, of course she wouldn't _tell_ him… _sign_ it maybe.

His mind drifted back to his dream, she had spoken, not in her own voice, but she had definitely spoken. And her legs were unmarred by scars. Why had he dreamt of her? And with no scars?

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard a soft gasp; he turned the corner and saw Artemis wearing his shirt and belt. Vanessa had been right; it _did_ look like a dress.

But he frowned at her tear-filled and panicked eyes. "What is it?" he asked.

She looked up at him and then back down, his eyes followed hers, her legs were uncovered, and she looked at him with sheer terror.

He groaned and rolled his eyes, this was going to be a long day.

* * *

 **So, this was a bit rushed, and I'm not entirely confident in this chapter, but at least I got it on time!**

 **Did I?**

 **I'm not sure, I'm writing this a few days earlier so I could try to update _on time_.**

 **Please tell me what you thought!**

 **And I apologize for the _INSERT LINE HERE_ thing in the last chapter, it's fixed now.**

 **Also...It's mah birthday! Soon anyway, maybe even the day I update this! Wouldn't that be neat?**


	11. Mycroft Picks Her Up

He had spent most of the afternoon telling Artemis that she was fine, that nobody would notice…of course they both knew that was a lie.

The rest of the afternoon was spent trying to get her to unlock the bathroom door and come out…that didn't go so well.

It wasn't until Mycroft called him and told him what had happened that he finally got her to come out.

"You were shot at?" Sherlock laughed. "Well at least someone around here isn't bored."

He heard the door click and saw Artemis come rushing out , her eyes were wide and fearful.

"Oh, I think Artemis heard me…" he said.

He heard Mycroft sigh, he had told Sherlock not to tell Artemis,

"Yeah, alright." Sherlock said into the phone before hanging up, and then he knelt down and looked Artemis in the eyes. "Mycroft wanted me to tell you, he's alright, nothing happened." Sherlock droned. "However, he didn't tell me I couldn't tell you that he did hit his head and it was bleeding."

Artemis gasped, was Mycroft hurt? How badly? Or was Sherlock just teasing her?

"And also…" he cracked a smirk. "Vanessa's the one that saved him." He snorted.

Artemis didn't understand why he thought that was funny, but it seemed that if Sherlock was still finding humor in it, Mycroft couldn't have been badly hurt.

 _Is he going to pick me up soon?_ She signed.

"Yes, in about twenty minutes, and when you get home you can wear whatever you want." He said and got back up.

She smiled. Good, because she didn't like this dress at all.

* * *

As soon as she heard the front door open, she raced down the stairs and saw Mycroft standing there. He was on his phone and had yet to realize she was there.

She ran down the stairs, her footsteps finally made him look up just in time for her to throw her arms around him.

"Wha-?" he frowned and looked down, the young girl's face was buried in his jacket. "Artemis, what is it?" he asked.

"I believe she missed you, Mycroft." Sherlock said from the top of the stairs.

The older sibling looked up and glared at Sherlock before putting his hand on Artemis's shoulder and gently pushing her away. "Go wait in the car." He told her without looking.

She swallowed nervously and glanced back at Sherlock. She wasn't entirely sure what was going on, and she wished Mycroft would tell her.

Mycroft looked down at her when she didn't make a move to leave. "Now, Artemis." He said more forcefully.

And looked down and nodded.

Sherlock waved casually. "Goodbye, Artemis." He said, but she didn't look back at him, she simply walked out the door, shutting it behind her. "I think you hurt her feelings, Mycroft." He said.

Mycroft looked back at the door. "She's fine," he said and looked back to Sherlock. "Did anything happen?"

"No," Sherlock said. "Do you have a concussion?"

"No, it wasn't that bad." he shook his head.

Sherlock finally jogged down the steps to Mycroft. "Did you find out who the shooter was?"

Mycroft was silent for a bit. "No…but he said that he was Artemis's father."

Sherlock frowned. "Do you think it's true?"

"I didn't get a good enough look at him to see any similarities between them."

"What will you do?" Sherlock asked.

"Attempt to track him down, but at the very least he won't have any contact with Arte-"

"No," Sherlock stopped him. "If he really is her father, what will you do?"

Mycroft frowned deeply and looked away. "What _can_ I do?"

Sherlock sighed. "Are you going to tell her?"

Mycroft looked back to his brother. "Of course not, she doesn't need to know this."

"She'll want to; she was badgering me for questions before you got here."

Mycroft sighed. "Goodbye, Sherlock." He said.

Sherlock stayed quiet as he watched his older brother walk out the door of his crappy little apartment. Had Mycroft expected something to happen if he got a kid? He's a very powerful man with a lot of enemies…not as many as Sherlock, but still. He had to have thought of his child being in danger, right?

Maybe he hadn't thought he would be so attached, maybe he thought someone else would take care of her. If he had thought that, why had he allowed himself to become so clearly enthralled with this girl? Why had she become so important to him? Sherlock could see, Mycroft loved Artemis, and would stop at nothing for her to be safe with him.

He sighed and started back up the creaky steps.

* * *

Mycroft sat back in the sleek black car, his looked out the window and watched the people pass by, he purposely avoided speaking or looking at the small girl next to him, so as not to have to answer the inevitable questions. But it was hard not to look at her when she tugged at his sleeve.

Artemis blinked when she saw Mycroft was ignoring her, for some reason this hurt her more than she thought it might. People had ignored her before, kids would pretend she wasn't there, and foster parents would ignore her crying. But this…this seemed different. She hadn't thought Mycroft would do that.

She let go of his sleeve and looked down. Maybe this was her fault, the shooting, the break-in…maybe he thought she was more trouble than she was worth.

Mycroft felt his heart break when he saw her look away in his peripheral-vision, but he really didn't want her to know about the man.

They finally pulled up at his house; she got out of the car before he did and raced to the door.

Vanessa opened it from inside, not expecting the small girl to dart past her. "Artemis?" she called out as Artemis ran upstairs and into her room.

Mycroft walked up and didn't bother even glancing at the brunette.

"Mr. Holmes, what happened?" she asked.

He waved her off. "It's nothing, Vanessa." He said. "I'll be in my study." He closed the door behind him and shut out the world.

Vanessa was completely confused, so she walked towards Artemis's room. Once she was there, she knocked on the closed door.

"Artemis?" she asked. "I'm coming in." she opened the door, it was dark and somewhat cold. She shivered, but couldn't tell if that was from the cold or from the odd atmosphere.

"Artemis, where are you?" she asked and felt around for the light switch. A breeze flowed through the room and it chilled her bones, she started working harder to find the light.

Why was it cold? Why was there a breeze? She frowned as she felt the switch, she flicked it upward and blinked when the room was suddenly flooded with light.

She sighed in relief and turned around to look at Artemis, only to have her stomach drop to her feet.

The room was empty, and the window was open. Wind caused the curtains to blow into the room.

"Artemis…?" she called out, but there was not the slightest noise in the room besides her own breathing.

She put a hand to her stomach to try to calm herself.

Someone had Artemis.

* * *

Artemis groaned as her consciousness came back, it was dark. She tried to move her hands but they seemed bound together, along with her feet.

The ground was hard and painful. She shifted a bit but her head hurt a lot, she decided not to move if she could help it.

That's when she heard a door open, it let out a horrid creak that made her heart leap into her throat and tears spring into her eyes.

Footsteps came closer and closer to her until they were right in front of her.

Her breathing sped up as she heard the person crouch down. Large and rough hands rested on her upper arms, the lifted her up so that she was sitting up, it caused the throbbing in the back of her head to increase. She kept her head down.

The hands lingered on her arms for a second longer but finally, they released her.

Suddenly, the bag over her head was torn off and gasped as light from outside the door hurt her eyes.

She squinted as she looked towards her kidnapper.

A man sat in front of her, a large grin rested on his scruffy face, his green eyes were wide and had a hint of insanity.

"Hello Artemis," he said nervously. "Remember me?"

She frowned.

And then she remembered.

* * *

 **Hey, sorry it's a little late, that is entirely my fault...I have no excuses prepared.**

 **I sort of sped through this chapter at the last minute, so sorry if it's not that great. I honestly have no expectations for this one.**

 **It's late, and I'm sort of tired, so I'm not gonna write a whole lot...**

 **But thanks for reading, and don't forget to review!**


	12. Memories of The Old House

"Hello, my dear." He smiled. "It's so good to see you again."

She frowned. She remembered him…she remembered back _then_.

"Did you miss me?" he asked. "I missed you; I missed the silence that you would bring."

She tried to move away but her limbs hurt. How did she get here?

"Don't worry, I won't let that bad man come and take you away again," he shook his head. "Leaving you with that junkie for a whole day, what kind of parent does that?" he reached out and brushed some hair away from her face, she cringed. "I'll be a better father than he ever could be, I know I don't have a lot, but now I have _you_." He smiled. "We can be together again, Artemis. No more screaming kids to distract us."

She squeezed her eyes shut as he placed his hand on her cheek.

"We can be a family again." He whispered.

* * *

Two years ago…

A blonde girl was crying as a dark-haired boy ripped apart a stuffed bear. A teenage girl was sitting on the counter, smiling at a teenage boy. A three year old boy ran around the house in his underwear, yelling nonsense as loud as he could.

But in another room, just down the hall with crayon drawings on the walls and stains on the cheap carpet, if you opened the very last door to your left you would see a five year old, knees tucked into her chest and her head down, choppy black hair covering her face.

She jumped when the door was thrown open and one of the teen boys laughed, clearly drunk of the old man's liquor.

"Well, there you are." He grinned. "Everyone's out here having a great time, I knew it was odd for it to be _fun_ for once." He stumbled into the room. "But now I realize it's because you aren't there." He slurred.

She glared at him with complete disdain, she had always hated him.

"Want some?" he handed her the bottle of smelly alcohol.

She simply stared at it as she held it in her small hands.

"If you don't want any, give it back." He shrugged and reached for it.

She shook her head and let him take it.

"Lee, what are you doing in here?" the teen girl walked in and smirked. "Oh, it you." Her smirk fell however, when her eyes landed on the small girl.

She simply looked away and got up, she had come to that room for peace, but clearly she wouldn't be getting any anymore.

"Where are you going?" the teen girl sneered. "Off to go cry in some corner?" she laughed.

The black-haired girl didn't respond and was soon out in the living room with all the other kids.

The three year old threw up somewhere next to her, she went over and patted his back as he plopped down and cried. She then looked at the boy who was dangling the mangled teddy bear over the young girl's head as she screamed and cried for it.

When would the old man be back?

This wasn't right, he couldn't just leave a bunch of kids by themselves…he had to know that, right?

She sighed and made her way to the window where she stared at the empty driveway. They wouldn't dare drink his liquor if he was here, and as much as she didn't like him, she didn't like the other kids even more…so she wished he would come back soon.

A few days later, things had calmed down. The teens were all exhausted from partying non-stop, and the children were less rowdy because the teens weren't around.

The small, black-haired girl sat in the kitchen, she had searched every nook and cranny for some food and came up with only a can of beans and some spoiled milk. She sighed; the three year old must have been hungry, since he stared at the can with such intensity with his sparkling green eyes.

She smiled at him and picked up the can, gesturing it to him. He nodded, knowing what she meant, neither of them spoke, except for the occasional war cry that he would let out when he was running around.

She looked in the drawers and found a can opener; she opened the beans and poured a bit into a small bowl. There wouldn't be enough for everyone, but she figured that the youngest kids were the top priority.

So she set the bowl in front of the toddler and watched as he scooped the beans up with his hands and ate them quickly.

She smiled sweetly as he finished the last scoop, he looked to her and his face was a mess, he reached for the can she was holding and made small grunts, trying to get her to give him more.

She shook her head at him and pointed to the other children in the living room.

The toddler looked disappointed but nodded anyway; she smiled again and poured some more beans into other bowls. She picked them up and started to the living room, but stopped and looked sadly at the boy. She then handed one of the bowls to him and pointed to the living room again.

His face lit up when he realized she wanted him to help her carry them.

"Food?" the other young girl, who looked just a bit older than she did, looked up with hope.

The black-haired girl nodded and handed her the bowl.

"There's not a lot in here…" she frowned and looked back up. "Aren't you going to have some?"

She hadn't thought of that, she looked back at the can, there was only enough for the teens left.

The blonde girl, as if she had sensed what Artemis had been thinking, gave the bowl back. "I'm older than you, that means _I_ should be taking care of _you_."

She shook her head and set the bowl back on the ground in front of the blonde. The girl simply pouted and reluctantly started eating.

The toddler handed the other bowl to the dark-haired boy with hesitance, it seemed he had been listening to the two girls' conversation…well, one-sided conversation.

"Will they be getting any?" the dark-haired boy looked to the shut door down the hallways where the two teens resided.

The girl nodded.

The dark-haired preteen clicked his tongue. "Shame, they'll probably just throw it up again."

She smiled in amusement, it was true, those two were very hung-over.

She had started pouring the beans into two separate bowls for the teens, but the three year old continued to frown as he watched her. She finally sighed and took his bowl, dumping the last of the beans into it. It wasn't much, but it might tide him over until she could go out and find something else.

She reached down and handed the bowl to him, he took it into his small hands, but the frown remained on his face. She shrugged it off and took the two bowls and quickly went into the hallway.

She took a deep breath to calm herself, they would be mad if she woke them up. She stood in front of the door, wondering how she was going to tell them to eat…without actually speaking.

"Do you want me to do it?" a voice sounded from the living room, the dark-haired boy looked at her. She just stared back. "It'd be suicide to open that door without their permission, and you'd have to have a good reason to get permission." He stood from the ground he was sitting on. "I figured you wouldn't exactly be able to tell them that reason was food."

She looked down, he was right.

"Here," he took the bowls from her and shooed her away, she heard him knock on the door before she walked back into the kitchen.

There, the toddler boy sat on one of the few chairs in there, the small bowl was still in his hands and he stared intently at it, his dark brows furrowed in concentration.

She came up behind him and tapped on his shoulder. His head whipped around and he stared at her. She tilted her head in silent question.

He looked back down at the bowl and she finally noticed that it was still filled with beans; he took it and thrust it at her. His concentrated face suddenly broke out in a wide grin.

She realized what he was doing; he knew she wasn't going to eat anything. She looked at him with a concerned face, but then took the bowl and smiled. He grinned even wider if that was possible, his cheeks, although pale and thin, looked glowing with pride. He was obviously very happy that she had accepted.

She took a spoon from the drawer and ate a bite of the cold beans, she nodded at him with a smile.

He giggled, completely elated, but his happy mood soon fell when she took another spoonful and put it in front of his face.

He frowned and looked at her, he didn't want any, he wanted her to have some.

She raised her eyebrows, he knew she wasn't going to have anymore unless he ate that bite, so reluctantly, he took the bite and scowled at her.

She grinned mischievously as she took another bite and scooped up some more for him.

They eventually ate the rest, he did not look happy with her anymore.

She smiled at him and patted his head, but they both froze when they heard the sound of a car.

"He's back!" the dark-haired boy yelled from the living room.

The two ran out and saw the blonde girl and the dark-haired boy standing on the couch, looking out the window.

"Hurry and go hide before he sees you two." The girl said worriedly.

They knew he always went for the youngest when he saw them, if he saw either of them he would _only_ see them for the rest of the day. And nobody wanted that.

So the dark-haired girl ran into the room right next to the one with the teenagers, she quickly made the small boy crawl under the dirty bed that was in there with them.

But there wasn't enough time for her to when the door burst open, she turned around but frowned when she saw, not the old man, but someone younger and well dressed in a suit and tie.

"That's five…" the man mumbled. "Where's the boy?"

She blinked, not knowing who he was.

"The little one…" he said to her. "Doesn't speak, still in diapers...I think he's about three?"

She glanced to the bed but then shrugged.

"Shit." He cursed. "I'm going to kill those two." He growled and stomped out of the room.

She followed him with one last look at the bed, the boy was peeking out.

The man had walked into the living room where the two teens were sitting for some reason.

"I can't find the boy." He barked at them.

"How are we supposed to know where he is?" the girl sneered.

The man slapped her, causing the teen boy to shout. "Don't touch her!"

"What are you going to do about?" he shoved the girl away and glared at the boy.

"Where's the old man?" he looked out the window.

"He's not coming back for awhile, had some business up north." He went into the kitchen. "Was he even feeding you?" he asked as he went into each of the empty cupboards.

Everyone stayed silent.

"Guess I'll have to go shopping." He grumbled angrily.

"Who are you?" the teen boy asked bravely.

"I'm the old man's nephew." He said while rolling his eyes and loosened his tie. "I'll be watching you until he gets back."

The blonde girl frowned and looked to the dark-haired boy.

"Now, I need to look for that kid." He sighed. "Any of you know where he might be?"

Everyone looked to the black-haired girl, causing him to frown at her.

"Where's the boy?" he asked her.

She just stared at him.

"Just tell him!" the blonde girl urged.

But the small girl didn't trust the new man; there was something off about him.

"He's under the bed, isn't he?" the teen boy asked.

The man looked at the small girl, then to the teenager. Her wide-eyes showed him that the teen was right.

He shook his head. "If he's in the house, then I don't care." He waved it off.

All the children looked at each other; the small girl looked behind her and saw the three year old peeking his head out from the door.

* * *

Artemis swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat. The man had gone, but she knew he'd be back.

She hated this, she never wanted to remember that place…and he just kept bringing back memories.

She sighed into the rag that was stuffed into her mouth to keep her quiet. Mycroft was coming for her, right? He'd rescue her any moment now…who was she kidding?

He probably did think she was more trouble than she was worth…maybe he didn't want her anymore. Maybe he'd just leave her here, at _his_ mercy.

She opened her eyes again, but it was too dark to see. She could taste blood in her mouth from when he had hit her because she wouldn't look at him…how long ago was that?

Her body ached and she felt exhausted, how long had she been there? When was the last time she ate or drank?

She wanted to cry out, but couldn't find her voice…it was nothing new, but now it sent a sense of dread down her spine at the thought that she wouldn't be able to call for help.

* * *

"I'll talk to them myself if I have to, just get those files." Mycroft barked into his phone as a knock on the door caused him to glance up.

Vanessa stood there, several manila folders in her arms. "It's the records you asked for."

He nodded and hung up the phone. "Thank you, Vanessa, that'll be all." He said and started to go through them, but her presence never left. He looked back up. "You can go home," he said. "I'll handle these."

She looked away.

"If there's something on your mind, tell me." He narrowed his eyes.

She swallowed down the nervousness. "Mr. Holmes, it's been a few days now since…well," she paused. "And you haven't found anything, so I'm wondering if maybe you should look at things differently."

He leaned back in the chair and glared at her.

She sighed. "The man said he was Artemis's father…but what if he's not?"

"What do you mean?" he raised an eyebrow.

"He was clearly off his rocker." She scoffed. "I just think maybe…maybe he imagined he was her father." She continued. "Maybe he just became obsessed with her, and it's not exactly a bad idea because…well, we haven't really made any breakthrough trying to track him down."

"And what do you propose we do?" he asked.

"Take a different route?" she pulled out a rather large binder. "Maybe, we should start looking into other people in her life."

He took the binder and flipped through it. "How did you put this together?" he frowned, she couldn't have had a lot of time to, seeing as he had her running around trying to find out who Artemis's father was.

"In my free time, sir." She nodded.

"You don't have a lot these past few days, your free time has just been to sleep…right?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

She hesitated. "I can't seem to do a lot of that…sleep, I mean."

He sighed. He couldn't talk, because he hadn't slept a wink since Vanessa had discovered Artemis's room to be empty.

"Well, I suppose I should explore everything, I'll have read through this in the morning, come back then."

She nodded and left the room.

He ran a hand through his hair and slumped forward, the stress of not knowing…it was wearing on him. He didn't know the name of the man who took her, or what he was doing right at that moment…was she scared? Probably, she was only a child, after all. He had never felt such burning rage before, the thought of her being hurt, or worse…it made his fists clench and his stomach churn.

When they catch this man, he'll make sure he gets the maximum punishment. He looked towards the door and wished she would just walk in, saying that she got away…and that the bad man was gone.

Sherlock was right; he had grown attached to her…more than he cared to admit. Was this what it felt like to have a child? Every waking moment that they're out of your sight, you feel uneasy? If he had known that he would feel like that, he wouldn't have gotten a kid.

But a part of him was glad that he had adopted her, he was glad that he had taken her out of the system.

"When I get you back…" he whispered to the picture of her in the large binder. "I'll promise to keep you safe."

* * *

 **I am SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sorry!**

 **There is absolutely no excuse for my late update other than my own forgetfulness and laziness. I meant to do it yesterday but forgot and decided to do it today...only to forget once more.**

 **Anyway...special thanks to Aubrey Cortez for her reviews!**

 **Guess that's all...don't forget to review.**


	13. Kingsley

"I love you, Artemis…" a voice in the distance rang out, but she couldn't force her eyes open to look. "I will always love you, even in death." Something felt wrong; something was completely off.

She forced her eyes open and caught the glint of something shiny in front of her.

"They're getting closer now, Artemis, this is the only way we can be together forever." The voice sounded much closer now.

Her dull eyes finally widened and sparked with fear. A knife…he had a knife.

Dogs barking hit her ears, it was far away, but she heard it. Men shouting and thundering footsteps…it was getting close.

"We have to do it now, it will hurt, but then we'll be together." She could sense his smile. "They'll find us…and know that you never loved them. We're a family, Artemis, we have to stay together." She felt him move closer and found she was paralyzed in fear…she couldn't move.

"We'll always be together." His breath was so close, and she felt him press his sweaty, cold forehead against her own.

In the darkness, she sensed him moved his arm up, the knife glinting again as the small light coming from under the door reflected on it. She sucked in a breath.

This was it.

This is where she dies.

* * *

Twelve hours earlier…

"Where is she?" Sherlock growled as he burst though the double doors, finding Mycroft as his desk.

Mycroft sighed. "How did you find out?"

"That doesn't matter." He crossed the room in seconds. "Why didn't you tell me when she went missing?"

"It does not concern you, Brother Mine; now I suggest you leave and get your next hit…you look like shit." He sneered. "At least when you're high you try to decent."

A swift punch connected with Mycroft face.

"Do you even know who it is yet?" Sherlock barked as Mycroft pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the blood away from his lower lip, but otherwise remained silent.

"Do you even care?" Sherlock scoffed. "Or is one of your underlings 'dealing with it'?"

"'Underlings'?" he rolled his eyes.

"Maybe I was wrong before…maybe you don't give a damn about Artemis." He shook his head.

Mycroft stood up suddenly. "Leave, Sherlock." He warned him. "Or I'll get security to escort you out."

Sherlock was silent for a moment. "And here I started to think maybe…" he leaned in closer. "Just _maybe_ , you were beginning to have a heart."

"We don't have hearts, Sherlock." His finger lingered over a button on his desk. "I'm giving you a chance to leave voluntarily."

Sherlock shook his head. "Fine, you don't care what happens to her." He raised his hands in defeat and started back to the doors.

"Sherlock…" Mycroft sighed again. "If you find anything, let me know."

Sherlock didn't say anything; he just walked out the doors and left Mycroft on his own.

Four days…it had been four days and still nothing. He hadn't gotten even a little bit closer since he and Vanessa found Artemis's shoes sitting neatly in a pawnshop. They knew it was hers because it was the school's uniformed shoes and they had her name on the inside heel.

He sighed and rubbed his face, surely they would have some breakthrough soon, they had to…who knows is she was even alive, chances were slim after all.

"Sir, there's a young man here to see you, he says it's urgent." Vanessa's voice crackled through the intercom.

He frowned; he hadn't expected anyone…who could it be? He got up from his chair and exited the large office; he made his way to the reception's desk and saw Vanessa in her smart pencil skirt and white blouse with a black blazer over it, her hair flat-ironed and brushed back, and her black heels made her look even taller than she normally was. Some folders were tucked in her arm, held by her neatly manicured hands, and her posture was quite intimidating.

However, a frown was creasing her forehead as she stared warily at a teenage boy in front of her, his messy dark-brown hair was partly in his eyes, it was shaggy and unkempt and pretty greasy, but Mycroft could still make out his face clearly, and when Vanessa said "young man" It was definitely an overstatement, he couldn't have been more than thirteen.

His baggy grey hoodie hung loosely, making it quite difficult to see, but if you looked closely enough you could see how skinny he was, his torn and faded jeans seemed like they would fall down if it weren't for the belt, and his filthy Converse shoes had a hole in one of them.

"Hello." Mycroft said stiffly as he saw Vanessa glance at him in relief.

"Are you Artemis's new dad?" the boy immediately said. Mycroft could make out a few freckles scattering across his nose, behind all the dirt smudges.

"Yes, you are?" he asked.

"I'm Kingsley…well, Daniel Kingsley." He shook Mycroft's hand. "But everyone calls me Kingsley, I was in a home with Artemis for awhile." He said and looked over to Vanessa. "Has she gone missing yet?"

"What?" Mycroft and Vanessa both said at once.

"Artemis, do you know where she is?" he said more forcefully.

Mycroft felt anger boil up inside him, he wasn't sure why but he didn't like this kid. Just as he was about to call security, Vanessa sensed it and stopped him before he could.

"Yes, she's gone." Vanessa said clearly. "Do you know where we can find her?"

Sadness crossed the boy's face. "I'm too late then?" he sighed. "I don't know where she is…but my sister might."

"Who's your sister?" Vanessa asked.

"Her name is Sophie, but the thing is, I don't know where she's at right now." His brows creased. "She's only eleven, but she's out there somewhere…she ran away a few months ago."

Mycroft shook his head. "Come, we'll talk of this in my office." He said. "Vanessa, cancel any meetings I have for the next hour or so."

"Yes, sir." She nodded and hurried away, leaving Mycroft to escort the boy into the elevator and up to his office.

"I'm sorry you can't find her." The boy blurted out in the elevator.

Mycroft stayed silent.

"She was always very sweet, she'd take care of the toddler, and even sometime me and my sister…" he said. "She never spoke though, is she still silent?" he looked up towards Mycroft, who simply nodded. "It's a shame, we never knew why she couldn't talk…we always assumed it had something to do with her legs."

"She was in a fire at a very young age." Mycroft said. "Apparently, she hasn't spoken a word since."

The boy shook his head. "She doesn't deserve any of this."

"No, she doesn't." Mycroft agreed as the elevator bell rang and they walked towards the fancy-looking door.

"Have a seat." Mycroft said as he made his way behind his desk.

"Thanks…" the boy awkwardly shuffled towards the seat across the massive desk.

"Now, tell me what happened…the whole story." Mycroft said insistently. Maybe, just maybe, this boy could be the key to getting Artemis back.

The dark-haired boy sighed. "Seven months ago, Sophie went missing, she turned back up about a week later…her eyes were so empty…" he shook his head. A brief thought crossed Mycroft's mind, Artemis was put into Roseway Orphanage seven months ago."And her clothes were in rags and her hair was filthy, I almost didn't recognize her."

"What does this have to do with Artemis?" As sad as the story was, it would have just been a waste of time if Mr. Kingsley didn't connect it to Artemis soon.

"Lucas Pratt." He said as if the very name was something incredibly disgusting. "The man that took Sophie for that one week, we already knew him…and so did Artemis."

Pratt…where had he seen that name?

"Sophie had told me that the entire time he had her…he only talked about Artemis, he…would even pretend she was Artemis." He grimaced. "She said he would act like a father to her, but hit her if she disobeyed."

Mycroft's stomach did a flip at the thought of Artemis being hit. He blinked a couple times. "You said your sister might now where Artemis is?"

"She stayed with him for a whole week, she must know something." He said. "If we can find her, we can ask her."

"How do I know you're not just trying to get me to help you find your sister?" he asked. "That this doesn't actually have anything to do with Artemis."

This made the boy pause. "Honestly?" he said. "You don't know, but even if that was true, you'd still help me find my baby sister…that's a good thing, right?"

Mycroft looked down. "How old are you, Mr. Kingsley?"

The boy shifted in his seat. "Fifteen."

Mycroft looked at him, surprised; he couldn't be that old, could he? "I'll help you find your sister. I'll get some men to form a search party, you'll have to give them her description."

"I have a picture, can I just use that?" He asked and gestured to his jacket pocket. Mycroft reached his hand out and the boy put a wrinkled picture into it. "It was taken about a year ago, but she still looks like that."

Mycroft looked at the blonde girl in the photograph, and her bright blue eyes stared right back at him. "You said she's eleven?"

"Yes, sir." He nodded. "Her birthday was last month…she was already gone."

"Give this to Vanessa then," he handed the picture back. "I'll message her and tell her to arrange the search party."

The boy smiled. "Thank you, and we'll find Artemis." He nodded. "I know we will."

Mycroft watched the boy walk out of his office, if only he had that optimism…but time was running short, he needed to get her back and soon…or he could only imagine what would happen.

* * *

 **School's here! Which means my updates might not be as regular...sorry :(**

 **And sorry for the low quality on this chapter, I rushed through it since I was barely through it when Friday hit.**

 **Special thanks to jenakara and Aubrey Cortez for their reviews!**

 **Guess that's all for now...see you guys in the next chapter! Bye Bye!**


	14. Arthur's Confidence

"Artemis hasn't been to school in awhile." Mel sighed dejectedly

"Maybe she moved." Henry said, looking to the curly-haired girl lying on the desk.

"She wouldn't do that!" she exclaimed. "She wouldn't have without telling us."

"'Telling'?" Henry raised his eyebrow.

"You know what I mean!" she growled. "We've got to find out what happened."

"She's dead." Lily smiled.

"No she's not!" Mel sneered. "Although I wish you were." She mumbled.

Lilly frowned. "She is," she insisted. "My daddy's head of police, and they found I little girl's body in Thames." She flipped her hair. "It must be her, she's the only one I know _stupid_ enough to go into the water and _drown_."

Henry and Mel looked at each other.

"They found a body in the Thames?" Henry asked with a frown.

"Mm-hm." She nodded proudly. "Girl about our age, it must be her."

"Can she swim?" Mel suddenly asked, fear evident on her face. "Henry, does she even know how to swim?"

"It's not her Mel, don't be ridiculous." He said. "Maybe she's on vacation."

"Vacation in Heaven." Lily rolled her eyes. "Or actually, knowing her, in _hell_."

"What did you just say?" Mel snarled.

"She said she was leaving." Arthur suddenly came up behind them. "Isn't that right Lilly?"

"Oh, Arthur." She smiled. "What are you doing here?"

"Skipping," he said simply. "Maybe you should as well." He nodded to the door.

Her smiled fell as she took the hint. She nodded but instead of going to the door, she went to her desk.

"Can't stand her." Mel said.

"Now, Mel, don't frown too much or you'll get wrinkles." Arthur grinned.

Mel blushed. "I don't have wrinkles you sod!" she suddenly jerked up in her seat and smoothed out her face.

"What are you really doing here, Arthur?" Henry asked.

"Getting away from Peter." He said. "He's been such a bore the last few days."

"Why's that?" Mel asked, curious.

"Maybe something to do with Artie being gone." He shrugged. "Do you really not know where she is?"

Both kids shook their heads.

"Wish I did, I wish she told me she was leaving." Mel said. "I thought we were friends." She looked down.

"Maybe it wasn't her fault, she seems decent enough to tell you if she was going anywhere." Arthur said. "And you are friends."

"You can't be friends with someone who's not here." Mel said sadly. "I don't even know if she's coming back."

"I think she is." Henry said. "Her name is still on roll call, so she's still enrolled."

"Yeah, she'll be back." Arthur said confidently.

"How do you know for sure?" Mel asked.

"Because I know." He said smugly and turned to leave.

"Tell Peter that then." Henry said.

Arthur paused. "I have." He sighed. "He's about as glum as you, Mel."

"I'm not glum." Mel said with her face buried in her arms.

"Anyway," Arthur rolled his eyes. "I'd best be off, before Alex comes in and finds me here."

"Goodbye Arthur." Henry waved as the older red-head walked away.

"He doesn't seem very beaten up over this at all." Mel said. "He's just confident that she'll come back."

"Maybe we have to be too." Henry smiled. "It's not doing much good to sit around here moping."

"I'm not moping." She frowned. "But I suppose you're right."

"Of course I am." He plopped down in his head behind her. "I always am."

"Uh-huh." She nodded sarcastically. He simply gave a smirk and nodded.

* * *

Meanwhile, at that moment…

"Pratt…Pratt." Mycroft rifled through the papers on his desk. "It's in here somewhere." He picked up a folder and flipped through it. "I know it is…"

"Sir?" Vanessa walked in with a small knock on the open door. "Are you okay?"

"I've read that name…Pratt, I know I have!" he exclaimed and went through more files.

"Pratt, sir?" she frowned. "Who is that?"

"A lead." He looked up at her and stopped his rifling. "I have a lead."

She smiled. "Good." She nodded. "I'll…uh…cancel your four o'clock."

"Thank you." He nodded back and she left eh room.

He resumed his search, getting more and more frustrated with each paper he found that didn't have the name he was looking for. He eventually stopped and stared at the page in front of him with blank eyes. Maybe it had just been his imagination…maybe he had never really seen that name.

It was the first time he had doubted himself, doubted that he'd ever have Artemis back.

He sighed in defeat, slouched down and collapsed on the desk. He hadn't slept much, or eaten, he wasn't in great shape…and it was starting to become obvious.

He lifted his hand and flipped through a few more papers without lifting his head. A sudden scowl appeared in his face and he sat up and glared at the cluttered desk in front of him. With a growl, he swiped his arm across the desk, causing papers to fly everywhere.

He breathed heavily and rubbed his tired eyes, if he wasn't careful he was going to have some sort of breakdown.

He looked at the now paper-covered floor; his eyes scanned it with little hope…there was nothing. He had failed. He failed Artemis.

He was ready to give up…she was probably gone now anyway. His heart hurt so much just to think that…it _hurt_ so much. His lungs felt like they wouldn't expand, and his legs felt about ready to give.

Was Artemis already dead? Was it too late?

He felt like he was about to cry when his eyes landed on a sheet of paper full of names…well one specific name caught his attention.

"Pratt." He whispered and dropped to his knees, snatching up the paper.

"Sir?" Vanessa came in sounding worried. "I heard a crash." She looked around the room and saw paper everywhere, Mycroft on his knees, and his shoulder trembling. "Sir, what is it?"

She heard him laugh. "I'm fine." he sounded so happy, happier than she had ever heard him before. She smiled. "I think I know where to find her." He said.

Vanessa's smiled dropped, being replaced with disbelief. "What?" she swallowed.

"Look," he got up and showed her the paper. "An address."

"Mikhail Pratt?" she said, reading off the paper. "This is who you were looking for?"

He frowned and looked to her. "No…no it has to be Lucas Pratt."

"I was about to say…Mikhail Pratt is dead." She said, pointing to the word _Deceased_ on the paper.

Mycroft blinked. "Find everything on him." He said.

"How could he have taken her?" she asked as he started to the door. "He died a year ago."

"Any relatives, find Lucas Pratt!" he called out from down the hall as he pressed the elevator button.

"Where are you going, Sir?" she asked.

"It's about time I asked for my brother's help." He grimaced.

* * *

 **Well...short chapter after such a long time? Yeah, I am a horrible person. But it's not only school that's getting in the way, I also have some major writer's block.**

 **So I know this is a lot to ask right now, but please have patience! I really want to continue this story and have no thoughts about quitting it.**

 **Special thanks to Aubrey Cortez, galwidanatitud, and MeadowFlower for their amazing reviews! Thank you so much for your support.**

 **Don;t forget to review, and again, I am so sorry for this chapter.**


	15. Why Won't They Listen

"Lucas Pratt?" Sherlock steepled his fingers right under his nose. "This is what the boy said?"

"Yes." Mycroft said. "I found a Mikhail Pratt, one of Artemis's foster parents. Vanessa searched him up…he has a nephew names Lucas."

"Same one then?" Sherlock raised an eyebrow, still not looking at his brother. "Why come to me?"

"I…have business to attend; I'd like you to continue the search when I am not able to." Mycroft seemed uncomfortable.

"Okay." Sherlock said, thinking it best not to involve himself in Mycroft's government business…he didn't want to be involved in that.

"That's it?" Mycroft's eyes narrowed in suspicion. "No arguments? No bribes?"

"Believe it or not, I want Artemis to be found as well." Sherlock rolled his eyes, when he had heard that Artemis was missing, he was angry, not only at Mycroft for not telling him, but at himself…and he wasn't sure why. He hated not knowing why.

So, he started wondering, what was it about this girl that intrigued the people around her so much? Was it her background? They didn't know much about it, so it was a mystery, and he hated mysteries he couldn't solve.

Maybe that's why he wanted her found, so he could continue to work on the enigma that is Artemis Crowell Holmes.

Mycroft left after a few minutes of silence, off to do whatever it was he needed to do, Sherlock honestly didn't care much about his brother's work, as long as it didn't inconvenient him.

He heard his phone buzz against the wood of his old coffee table. The screen lit up and when he leaned over to look at it, it showed he had a text from Vanessa. He sighed, supposing that his new involvement in the missing case meant he had to talk to his brother's personal assistant.

He had nothing against the woman, honestly, he just found her to be annoying from time to time, from asking the wrong questions to being too persistent, he didn't understand why Mycroft kept her around…maybe they had some secret affair? He found himself chuckling at the thought, that wouldn't be the case, he would have noticed, and let's be honest…who would go for _Mycroft_? He scoffed and read the text.

 **Mr. Holmes, your brother has informed me that you will be acting in his absence involving Ms. Artemis's disappearance, if you ever find yourself needing information pertaining to the case, please do not hesitate to ask me for it. I am at your disposal, as long as it pertains to the case. -VH**

He frowned at the unnecessary amount of times she said he could ask for information as long as it has to do with Artemis. Why else would he want information from her? And what was her last name? He found himself wondering that. Had she ever said? He was sure she had. H…H…what names starts with H? He must have deemed it not important and gotten rid of it from his mind palace.

Why was he focusing on that? He need to focus on the case…

 **Send me everything you have on Lucas Pratt. -SH**

He didn't even bother asking, and her response was almost immediate.

 **Certainly, Mr. Holmes. -VH**

It was followed by a link to a detailed report on the man in question. Had she compiled this herself? Now he understood why Mycroft kept her around, she was extremely competent…

He got to work studying the report, analyzing Pratt's behavior from the what he read, he gathered that Pratt was very unstable, dropped out of high school shortly after getting into a fight with a fellow student, he worked off jobs until two years ago, he seemed to drop off the face of the planet. Apparently, he had told Mycroft that Artemis was his daughter, and according to Mycroft, the man genuinely believed it. So, he was delusional, and for some reason he had incorporated Artemis into these delusions. This brought him back to his thoughts on why Artemis was so interesting…for a girl who couldn't talk, she was probably the most interesting person he had come by.

So where could Pratt be hiding a small girl? He didn't own any properties…where had he been staying? A thought occurred to him, what had happened to his uncle's house? The one that Artemis has stayed in?

He looked through the report but found nothing about it.

 **Vanessa, can you tell me where it was that Artemis had lived with Lucas Pratt's uncle? -SH**

 **Yes, of course, do you think that's where she is? -VH**

She followed it with another link, he clicked on it and saw a full report on the uncle, with his former address highlighted.

 **Maybe. -SH**

Is all he typed, he didn't feel that there was a need for more. He searched up the address online, it was a very rundown house on an acre of land, nobody had bought it since the death of its owner, it was essentially abandoned and a perfect place to live out your delusions of a happy family, or whatever he considered a "happy family" was…

He squinted at the picture of the house he had found, a van was nearly hidden by the overgrown shrubs and overhanging trees, but he caught it, and it didn't really match the other things in the picture. Everything else was well-weathered, broken, and destroyed by time, but this van was relatively new, and almost suspiciously parked out of sight. Was that Pratt's?

He was sure of it now, this house would be the perfect place to indulge in his delusions, especially since it's where he met Artemis, it was also well-hidden and no-one would interrupt him and force him out of his fantasies.

Artemis was there, for sure.

He quickly dialed Mycroft's number, this was far more important than anything he had going on with his job.

 _"_ _Hello, Sherlock."_ Mycroft voice picked up, he sounded rather tired.

"I've found where she is." He said immediately, only to be met with a few moments of silence.

 _"_ _W-What?"_ Mycroft sounded surprised.

"It honestly wasn't that difficult, either your losing your touch or you were more sleep deprived than I had originally thought." Sherlock smirked.

 _"_ _Just tell me where she is!"_ Mycroft insisted.

Sherlock said the address with a level of smugness.

 _"_ _That's…the uncle's house?"_ Mycroft said hesitantly. _"Of course…I should have thought of it sooner."_

Sherlock frowned, his boasting was fun if Mycroft was already beating himself up over it. He said nothing as he heard Mycroft sigh and hang up.

He was left holding his phone in one hand, standing in the middle of his living room. He swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat, he hoped she was okay…oh, this was ridiculous. How could one little girl affect both him _and_ his brother so? It seems with each day she's a part of their lives gives them more and more of what somewhat resembles a heart.

* * *

Lucas shut his van door and locked it as he carried the groceries into the ramshackle house. He smiled as he set the chocolate milk next to the couple of freesia flowers he had on the counter…finally, they were together, they were a family.

She'd learn soon, he told himself, she'd learn that _he_ was her family, not that stuck-up businessman he had encountered. _He_ was who she was going to live with, who she was spend the rest of her life with. His beautiful daughter.

And he remembered her mother, she looked just like her…the black hair, the blue eyes, the freckles. He sighed. How perfect their family was going to be…

His dreamy smile suddenly turned sour. At least it _would_ be perfect if Artemis would just _listen_.

He only realized he was holding the glass he was going to pour the chocolate milk into too hard when it shattered in his hand. He opened his hand and most of the glass fell to the floor, but some of it was stuck in his hand.

He sighed and stared at his blood, what would Artemis's look like? Her blood, sweet and red, like wine…he shook his head. No, not this one, he wouldn't let it happen again.

Again…? He frowned, no, there was no "again", Artemis was his _true_ daughter, she was different. If only she would listen when he tried to explain it to her.

The sound of sirens soon alerted him, he snapped out of his trance and quickly wrapped his hand with a nearby rag, running to the backdoor and towards the storm cellar, he threw the doors open and quickly rushed in, closing the doors behind him. Darkness surrounded him, he felt around and his hand reached the small table, or rather, the sharp object that was on it. His fingers wrapped around the handle and he held the knife close to his chest as the sirens came closer and closer. He _knew_ that they were for him, why couldn't people just understand? Why couldn't they just leave him be?

He walked over to where he knew Artemis was, the sirens had stopped at the house, he heard doors closing, dogs barking, and people shouting…they were here.

"I love you, Artemis…" He told her softly. "I will always love you, even in death." This was the only way, he knew it was, the only way they'd be able to be together

A small gasp told him she was awake.

"They're getting closer now, Artemis, this is the only way we can be together forever." He leaned in and the knife caught the bit of sun peaking in

He heard her breath quicken, she was afraid… _oh no, don't be afraid sweetie_. The dogs continued to bark, footsteps could be heard from above… _stop it, you're scaring her_ …

"We have to do it now, it will hurt, but then we'll be together." He smiled as comforting as he could, trying to soothe her. "They'll find us…and know that you never loved them. We're a family, Artemis, we have to stay together." He leaned in. "We'll always be together." He pressed his forehead against hers and he felt her flinch.

He had to get it over with, he had to do it quick.

He raised his arm, preparing for one swift motion downward, he wished he had a gun, it'd be less painful, but he would try to make this as painless as he could for her.

He smiled as his eyes adjusted to the dark and he could make out the fear covering her face. It'll all be over soon…

He sucked in a breath and placed his wrapped hand on the knife as well.

And he started to bring it down…

And he felt it sink into the small body underneath him just as the dogs started barking outside the storm cellar's doors.

* * *

 **So...been awhile, huh? WAIT! BEFORE YOU START THROWING STONES! Just know, that it was only like...15% laziness. it was also 40% writer's block and 45% computer problems. Like, SERIOUS computer problems, I actually wrote most of this chapter on my _new_ _laptop_ that I got from Christmas, merry Christmas and happy holidays, btw...anyway, my _computer_ -computer was running like normal and then *Blamo!* blue screen pops up and I panic and turn off the computer...with a lot of not-finished, not-even-posted yet fanfictions and even some original stories I had been working on and one I was really proud of...and I had worked really hard on the sims 4 I had saved on there...but I did manage to finish the Dan and Phil baking video I had been watching when it crashed. BECAUSE I KNOW THAT''S WHAT YOU'RE REALLY WORRIED ABOUT.**

 **I remember hoping and praying that the computer would turn back on and let me back those stories and fanfiction up on my gmail or something...but was only met with the blank screen with the flashing line like it wanted me to type something...I feared it was all over. I lost my _determination_ and no save point could make it all go away, neither Sans nor Papyrus could save me...and then it happened.**

 **It turned on! Out of the blue, I was on my phone, just being a dork and watching youtube, I pressed the power button and wanted to just try one more time, and out of the corner of my eye I saw the start-up screen, BILLY WAS ALIVE! (Billy was it's name, this new one's name is Lenny, not that anyone's asking...) The first thing I did was save my crap to Gmail. I was sitting there for awhile, not wanting to tax it too much and have it crash again..**

 **After that, it was working for a day or two, and then I turned it off one night and the next morning I was met with the blank screen again. It was a miracle I tells ya! A miracle! Billy heard my prayers and managed to allow me to salvage my crappy stories and I couldn't have been more grateful, he had served me well...RIP Billy.**

 **Well...that was a long story...I apologize. Let's move onto special thanks!**

 **A super Billy-tastic thanks to galwidanatitude (Did I get that right?), MeadowFlower, and Reading-Stories-only for their spectacular reviews! 3**

 **Ugh, I don't like that heart...I should probably just delete it...and this...**

 **That's about all I have to say...and props to whoever read all the way through the most boring story ever about computer problems...welp, it's 4:23 a.m. here and I should really be going to sleep but I had to crank out this chapter (Crank? Is that the right word?). Don't forget to review! and I will see YOU...in the next chapter. Buh-Bye! *Waves***

 **P.S.**

 **You know I'm tired when I start stealing outros...**


	16. Mother and Father

Artemis opened her eyes and saw a large field in front of her, wild flowers were surrounding her, and it smelled so sweet. She smiled as she looked down and saw her new dress…was it new? She could have sworn she had seen it before, in another dream…

She was barefoot and the grass felt so nice under her, she wiggled her toes in the dirt, laughing as she knelt and looked at her legs. No scars. This was a dream.

She looked up again as the wind blew around her, whipping her hair into her face…her hair. She frowned and ran her hands through it, it was longer than it normally was, and darker. Over the years, her black hair had slowly faded, it was still black, but sometimes she could catch a glimpse of dark brown.

She heard a giggle and looked over her shoulder, there stood the girl she had come to call a friend so many years ago.

"Hello Artemis." Jane said. "My, you've grown…" she smiled wistfully. "I haven't though, you must be older than me by now."

Artemis opened her mouth but stopped herself, Jane didn't know sign language, how could she talk to her?

"You can't talk…can you?" the small girl smiled. "It's okay, I can still understand you." She took a step closer. "It must be difficult, to not even be able to talk in your dreams…"

Artemis nodded, she wanted to speak, but it was like something was stopping her…like some kind of wall was blocking off her vocal cords.

"You have to wake up, Artemis." Jane suddenly said, her eyes showed so much wisdom for such a small girl. "They don't know where you are, and you'll die here."

Artemis frowned in confusion. Oh, yeah…she was stabbed. She looked down to her stomach where white-hot pain had suddenly started, she covered her hand over it and grimaced as tears started to form, she looked at her hand and saw it was covered in red.

"It's ruining your new dress." Jane pouted. "It's such a pretty dress…"

"It is, isn't it…" a new voice said, it sounded…off. Like a distant memory that she just couldn't quite recall.

She turned around, still gripping at her staining dress. The man…dressed in a nice suit, voice somewhat warm for some reason, it was odd. He was blurry, she squinted but it didn't help. Who was he?

"Hallo darling." He said in a distorted voice. "Did you miss your daddy?" she made out a smile on his face. "I'm sorry I've been away for so long, but I got you a new dress to make up for it, how do you like it?"

Artemis's breathing started to get heavy, she felt cold…she turned around to see Jane once more, but she was gone…in fact, the field was gone as well. She blinked rapidly and took in her new surroundings, tall white bars all around her, separating her from the outside, a soft mattress under her tiny body…she looked at her hands and noticed they were too small and out of focus, like she was looking through someone else's glasses, everything around her was like this.

The man now towered over her, leaning on the white bars she now realized were part of a crib. A proud grin spread over his face.

"My sweet girl, you look like me." He laughed.

"The poor child…" a feminine voice, also distorted, rang out and Artemis's eyes widened, she knew this voice…it was so painfully familiar.

"I am incredibly handsome." The man said, his voice held laughter as he looked across the room.

"Of course, sweetie." A blonde woman came into view…who was that? "I'm just not sure our daughter wants to have your… _looks_." She sighed.

"What would she know?" he grinned again as the woman came to lean on the crib next to him, he wrapped an arm around her. "She's just an infant."

Artemis found herself pointing to a bottle across the room, had she done that? She heard a small noise come from herself, it was like she was inhabiting a body that wasn't her own.

"Say 'bottle', can you say that?" the man said and leaned a hand in to pet her head.

"She can't say anything yet, she's too little." The woman lightly slapped the man's arm.

"If she has my _'looks'_ then she has my smarts." The man smirked.

The woman laughed. "She does look like a smart one."

"Of course, she's my daughter after all." The man said smugly.

There was silence and Artemis felt her dress seem to stick to her skin, it was wet and warm, and the searing pain had only slightly subsided. But she wanted more of this…this was the good times, this was before everything happened.

"I wish you didn't have to leave again." The woman suddenly said and Artemis looked up, only to notice the woman had changed outfits…in fact, the room had changed.

She was now in a bouncy walker, she felt slightly bigger, but still incredibly small. She watched as her small, distorted hands played with a small stuffed elephant.

"I know, I know, Ada, I wish I could stay too." The man said, still in a suit, but this one was slightly different, he put his hands on her upper arms. " But you know I can't, I'll be back soon though." He leaned in to kiss her but she shied away and twisted out of his arms.

"How soon?" Ada asked, her voice held such distain that if Artemis's young mind had picked up on it like her present mind had, she probably would have started crying. "A month?" she turned around to glare at the defeated looking man. "A year?" she growled. "How much more of your daughter's life are you going to miss?"

"Ada, don't do this." He shook his head and looked directly at Artemis. "Not in front of Artemis."

"Artemis _Crowell_." She said. "It's like you don't even want her!" she threw her arms into the air. "Made me name her with my name, like you don't want to call her your own at all."

"You know why I did that." He suddenly screamed, causing Ada to flinch. "You know people would hurt her…if they knew." He calmed himself down with a loud sigh. "Ada…have you been drinking again?" he said with disgust.

Ada straightened up. "No, and don't turn this around on me."

"I want to know my daughter is safe with you!" he yelled but glanced to Artemis and forced himself to calm down again. "Just…please, if ever you can't take care of her-"

"She's my daughter too, I can take care of her just fine-!"

"- _If ever you can't take care of her!_ " the man said, his voice rising to a frustrated scream with each word. "You know who to call…"

The woman scoffed. "Like he knows how to take care of a toddler."

"Right now, I think he could do a better job than you." The man snapped. "Now, I'm leaving, Ada, promise me you won't let any harm come to her."

"I don't need to." She shook her head, but his threatening glare made her give in. "I promise." She crossed her arms and spat out the words like poison.

"Thank you." The man said sincerely and walked over to Artemis, kissing her on top of the head. "I'll see you soon, _A leanbh."_ He said and rubbed her hair affectionately.

 _No_ …

She felt her eyes tear up, she didn't want him to go…she would never see him again if he did.

"Goodbye, Ada, my love." He said without looking at the woman, and walked out the door.

* * *

 _No, she won't protect me, she won't call who she's supposed to. She'll drive with me…and fall asleep in her drunken state._

 _"_ It's quite sad, isn't it?" Jane suddenly appeared next to her, they were in the field again. "Don't you wonder why he never came for you?" she asked. "Surely you knew you had a father out there somewhere, what was wrong with you that made him not want you?"

She glared at Jane…no, it wasn't Jane. Jane was sweet, she was always so kind to Artemis, this was not her.

 _Who are you?_

Jane was silent, but smiled as everything started to fade away. She was just a figment of Artemis's imagination, something that her shocked mind had conjured up. She knew this, deep down, but it still unsettled her.

It was time to wake up, but she wasn't sure if she was ready…couldn't she just stay here? In this nice field of wildflowers? No harm could come to her here…

Just as she started to become content with this little world her young mind had come up with to cope with the pain and shock…a voice shot through it, shattering the illusion of the peaceful lands.

It was a familiar voice, a voice she had become fond of…who was it? Someone important, someone who, for some reason, went to the most rundown orphanage in London, someone who cared for her and gave her everything she had ever wanted.

Mycroft.

And with that one name in her head, the broken world that had been holding so dearly to the strings of what was keeping it there was blown away, reality sank in…and so did the pain.

Artemis opened her eyes with a painful gasp, it was dark and cold…or was it just her who was cold? She clutched her stomach and felt around the hard cement flooring, her hand reached something warm and sticky…blood. She started panicking, that wasn't hers, was it? No, it wasn't, it was too far away. She slowly crawled towards it, trying to ignore the burning pain, she felt a body next to it, _his_ body. Oh God…he did it, he killed himself.

She whimpered, she was going to die here, covered in her own blood and the blood of the man that kidnapped her, next to his still-warm body. Where were they?

She heard people shouting, but it was muffled. They must be hidden, but why would he do that? She thought he wanted them to find their bodies.

And then she heard it, the voice she had heard in her dream. Mycroft was there, he was calling for her…but she couldn't answer.

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. They were right there! She begged and pleaded in her mind for them to find her before she bled out. She kept pressure on the stab wound, it must not have been that bad if she was still able to move slightly.

" _Artemis_!" she heard him call, she wanted to yell back, oh, how she wanted to.

She opened her mouth again, trying desperately to knock down the wall in her mind…and it was in her mind, there was nothing wrong with her, she simply didn't talk. She continued to struggle with her voice as the shouts died down…no, they were giving up.

She reached out a bloodied hand towards where the voices had been, she opened her mouth once more. This was it, now or never, she felt the darkness seeping into her mind, she was losing blood fast and there was little she could do to stop it.

She sucked in a large breath and tried to calm down, just call out…just say his name…just do _something_! She forced herself up just a little more and lifted her chin high.

She didn't want to die here.

She refused to die here.

And for once, her stubbornness was a good thing…

"Mycroft!"

 _Because it helped her speak._

* * *

 **I meant to update yesterday as a New Years special...but I was really busy and kept putting it off, then I just forgot, I'm sorry.**

 **But at least I got this out, and hey! I kind of liked this chapter because it gave a little insight to Artemis's past.**

 **Special thanks to galwidanatitud, tammycharles, and Reading-Stories-Only, for their reviews! I don't think there's any hope for my old computer, and I didn't have a lot of important stuff left on it after I saved the stories, but thanks for your advice.**

 **Don't forget to review and tell me what you think of this chapter!**


	17. Saved

Mycroft was surrounded by people with guns and bullet proof vests on, he looked down at his own vest, it was bulky and uncomfortable, he wished he didn't need it on…but he had insisted to go with them to raid the house.

The car had stopped and the door was opened, they all got out, the dogs started barking when they caught onto Artemis's scent. Sherlock was right, she was here. Mycroft sighed a sigh of relief, knowing he would soon, hopefully, have Artemis back.

Seconds stretched on into eternity as they searched the house, everything seemed to be a blur as he searched with them.

No one was in the house…he frowned, the van was still here, the groceries were still on the counter, fresh. Where could they have gone?

Suddenly, he heard one agent shout that he found something, they all went to investigate and saw the storm cellar doors. Mycroft was instructed to stay behind them, and he listened, for once.

The door was flung open and everyone stormed in, flashlights were illuminating the whole room…especially the small blood stain by the far wall. Mycroft ran to it in a trance, it was still fresh. Where were they? He looked around, why had they gone?

They searched and searched, his hope was diminishing with each shake of a head or quiet mumbling that they were too late. He called out her name, utterly defeated, when there was no answer, he nodded slowly to himself. Why would there be an answer? She couldn't talk, and that might just be the death of her. He put an arm out to lean against the cold wall to support himself, he felt sick again, like he might throw up.

He turned and pressed his back to the wall and slowly started sliding down, his shoulders slumped. He put his head in his hands, he couldn't even take care of a small girl…he couldn't keep such an innocent thing away from danger. The thought angered him.

The noise that had initially been there was now dying down, a strong gloom filled the air as they all came to the same conclusion; she was lost.

The silence that hung in the air was split when a loud cry rang out, Mycroft's eyes widened.

" _Mycroft!_ "

The voice was so subtle, so scratchy, like it hadn't been used in a long time. Mycroft jumped up and looked behind him where the cry had seemed like it came from, but it was just a wall…he put his hands to it and felt around.

"Can I get a light!" he barked and one man rushed over and shined his flashlight on the wall. Mycroft looked around, scanning for any kind of indication that it was a false wall, but found none. He looked over to the shelf of tools next to him and narrowed his eyes. "Help me with this." He ordered and a few men came and helped him push it, when they did, there was an obvious square carved in the wall, he pushed on it and it fell over, inside a hidden room.

"Artemis?" he coughed as dust flew up at him. He crawled into the small space, only to have his hand hit something wet, the smell of iron suffocated him…there was blood everywhere.

He gasped and quickly crawled deeper into the room, hoping not to find the girl he was looking for a cold body. In the darkness, his hand fell over a smaller one, a _much_ smaller one. He grinned, it was still warm, and the sound of labored breathing managed to get past the loud roar of his own heart in his ears.

He followed the hand to the body attached and carefully lifted it into his arms, a small whimper made him frown, he slowly and gently carried her to the small opening in the wall. As soon as he got out, he saw the grins break out on the relieved men's faces, they had apparently gone and got a blanket from inside the house and quickly wrapped her in it, he took her back in his arms as soon as they were done assessing her injuries. They called for an ambulance in a panic when they saw the stab wound in her gut. But Mycroft was just happy that he had her in his arms again, that he had heard her voice for the first time, even if it might be the last…he shook his head, no, she was going to be fine, she was strong.

This whole event was evidence of that.

He smiled as they lifted her into the ambulance, she was going to be fine. She was dirty, covered in blood that wasn't entirely her own, and her clothes were slightly torn, but she was alive. He brushed her bangs away from her face, careful not to touch the mask they had put on her.

* * *

Artemis slowly opened her eyes, only to squeeze them shut again when the blinding light of the hospital room creeped up on her. She groaned, and tried to blink it away. Eventually her eyes got used to it and she looked around the room, only to find that it hurt to move her neck, like it was sore. She tried to move her arms, but one seemed to tug at something, she looked and saw a needle sticking out of it. She sighed and looked back up at the ceiling, her whole body was stiff.

"Artemis?" A cool, deep voice alerted of her the presence of someone else in the room.

She managed to look over and see Sherlock lounging casually in the chair next to the bed, his legs crossed and a book in his hands.

"Ah, you're awake, finally…" he scoffed. "Mycroft was getting tense and annoying everyone." He proceeded to close the book and stand up, putting one hand in his jacket pocket and the book in what looked like a backpack. He caught her confused stare. "I came from school," he explained. "The exam was today."

There was a moment of silence between them, until she smiled.

" _Did you do well_?"

Sherlock's head whipped around to the direction of the raspy, quiet voice. He smirked, his eyes lighting up.

"So, Mycroft was right, you really did speak…" he chuckled deeply. "How does it feel?"

She shrugged as if to say " _so-so_ " and then raised her eyebrow.

"Of course, I did excellent." He smirked slyly after seeing her expression.

She looked around. "Where…" she rasped and stopped to swallow and cough slightly.

"Take it easy, you haven't spoken in years." Sherlock laughed.

"Where is…Mycroft?" she said, her voice was still not above a whisper.

"I sent him to go get tea," he smirked. "He'll be upset when he realizes he wasn't here when you woke up."

She smiled and slowly started to sit up, everything ached, but she managed. She breathed in deeply, the smell of the hospital fell around her, she hated that smell…it reminded her of when she woke up after the fire and saw her legs.

"By the way, apparently, word of you being in the hospital has spread and a few parents have asked if their kids can come visit, they're all coming tomorrow, okay?" Sherlock looked at her warily. "You up for it?"

She nodded but then frowned. Her voice didn't seem up for it right now, so she signed instead. _Who's parents?_ She asked.

He frowned. "Mycroft took the calls, so I'm not sure."

She nodded in understanding, deciding to ask Mycroft when he came back in. And speak of the devil…

"There was a woman out there that asked me if I was married." Mycroft came in, holding a to-go cup of tea. "Why do people think that's a…" He finally noticed the small girl sitting up in the bed, a grin broke out on his face.

"That's a what…?" Sherlock asked.

"An important question." He sighed and set the tea down. "And besides, it was not any of her business, my romantic ties are not something she needs to know." He sat down by her bed. "How are you feeling, Artemis?" he asked, his brows creasing in concern.

 _Better._ She signed.

She noticed his face fall a little when she didn't verbally say her answer.

Sherlock must have noticed this too. "You should have heard her when she woke up," he said with a smug smirk. "Talked up a storm."

Artemis frowned, it sounded like Sherlock almost mocking Mycroft. But when she saw Mycroft's shocked face…I didn't seem like he took it that way. He looked almost happy, this surprised both Artemis and Sherlock, who was expecting some kind of witty insult from the older Holmes.

"You spoke?" he turned back to her with a small smile.

She nodded at first, then decided to try out her voice again. "Yes." She said, struggling a bit.

He smiled and gasped. "Oh my dear," he looked genuinely happy. "Still sounds a bit rough, huh?"

She nodded and smiled back, it made her happy to see him happy. Sherlock just stood there, bewildered, Mycroft really had taken to this girl…when was the last time he had seen him smile?

 _What friends asked to visit?_ She signed.

"Oh, that's right." He nodded. "Several parents called," he thought back. "Melody Eliott, Arthur Riddle, Henry Smoak, and Peter Hark…And Raz, they didn't say a last name." He said, "I told them you hadn't woke up yet, do you want me to call back and say you have?"

She shook her head. _They like surprises._ She smirked mischievously.

He smiled. "You should get some rest," he looked down at his hands. "I'll be in the other room. Sherlock, you can go home." He glared at his brother. "To be honest, I'm not sure why you're even here."

Sherlock scoffed. "You think you're the only one to grow attached to her?" he said, making Artemis's head snap up at him, she thought he didn't like her. "She's my niece, Mycroft, you take care of family." He picked up his backpack. "And besides, she helped me study, guess we're even now."

He casually walked out the door, causing Mycroft to shake his head, but Artemis saw that, even though they didn't show it like a normal family, those two really did care for each other.

"I'll let you sleep." Mycroft said and got up, but halfway to the door, he stopped and sighed. "I'm sorry, Artemis." He said softly.

She frowned in confusion, what did he have to be sorry for?

"I couldn't protect you," he said. "And even though Mr. Lucas had been after you for a while, I fear there will be more people like that, if you're my daughter, people will come after you to get to me, and you'll only get hurt more." He sounded so sad, she lightly touched her bandaged side, still recalling the way the knife felt sinking into her flesh. "So, if you do not want the adoption to be finalized, I understand." He looked to her. "I'll stop the process and you won't be in danger anymore."

She felt tears come to her eyes, he saw this too and his own eyes widened.

"Artemis?" he panicked.

"No," she said, her voice was so quiet, but he heard it. "Do you not want me anymore?" she asked, the amount of pain on her face was breaking whatever Mycroft felt he had instead of a heart.

"Of course I do." He said sincerely. "Artemis…you're not like other kids." He shook his head. "You're incredibly brave and clever. You've gone through things that the average adult would break down and cry over, and you take it like it's nothing."

"There's worse things in the world." She said, her throat hurt when she spoke, but it made her so happy to be able to convey how she feels without sign language.

He smiled. "See, you're aware of so many things, and yet you still see the bright side of them." He said. "Any person would be proud to call you a daughter."

"Then why aren't you?" she asked.

He was silent for a moment. "You deserve better then what I have to offer." He said. "I don't think I can give you the love of a parent, not like others could." He sighed. "So, I'm giving you the choice, this is your decision, and I know it's not fair, I know it's a lot, but I believe you can make an educated choice and I'll be fine with whatever you choose."

She looked down. She didn't want to go back to any foster home or orphanage, she wanted to stay with him. And when he said he might not be able to love her, she knew that wasn't true, he thought so lowly of himself, he already loved her, he's already shown it. She smiled. "I want to stay with you, I want to be Artemis C. Holmes." She grinned. "You've already shown me how much you care, you're a good person, Mycroft."

He was shocked into silence, but a soft smile found its way to his face. "So are you, Artemis." He nodded. "Then, I suppose I must call Vanessa and tell her you're awake, she basically ordered me to keep her updated." Artemis laughed. "She's grown quite fond of you."

"I like her too." She nodded, her eyes drooping.

"I'll leave you to rest." He said. "It's so good to hear your voice."

She smiled, she liked it too. He left and she snuggled up into the blanket, and the minute she closed her eyes, she was out.

* * *

 **SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SORRY! I know it's been forever since I updated, I just realized the chapter I was having difficultly on was the chapter after this one...my bad..**

 **Special thanks to galwidanatitude, tammycharles, Reading-Stories-Only, KLG868814, PrincessMagic, grace-adalyn, and ljtbookgeek15 (Wow, that was a lot) for their amazing reviews! It really does encourage me.**


	18. Content

There was the sound of glass shattering, a child's scream, and drops of blood on the floor. Artemis's eyes were wide as she searched for a rag, the three-year-old boy was standing there, trying to hold in his panicked tears. He held his hand close to his chest, getting his shirt bloody from the large gash in his palm.

"It's okay, Phillip." Daniel looked to Artemis. "It was an accident."

"But will Lucas think so?" Sophie asked.

"Shut up, Sophie." Daniel growled and put an arm around the shaking boy, the broken glass at their feet.

"He'll be home soon, we need to clean this up before he gets here." Sophie sighed, ignoring her brother. "And before the teenagers see it." She sneered.

"They'll tell him." Daniel nodded as Artemis came back with a wet cloth. "Just to get on his good graces."

"I hate them." Sophie crossed her arms.

Artemis grimaced as she dabbed the blood away, Phillip's breath hitched as the cold water touched the cut. Daniel continued to rub his back.

"You're doing good, Phillip." Daniel said soothingly. "How is it?" he asked Artemis.

Artemis frowned and looked up at him, she bit the inside of her cheek and made a gesture to show stitches.

"He needs stitches?" Sophie's eyes widened.

Daniel cursed and shook his head. "Okay…okay, I'll handle it." He got up and took his jacket off the back of the couch.

"Where are you going?" Sophie ran up to him as he reached the door.

"We need things to sew it up, I got some money…" he raised a hand as she opened her mouth to ask a question. "It doesn't matter where I got it, don't worry about it, just go find some booze, have it ready by the time I get back."

Artemis frowned, deciding not to concentrate on the shadiness surrounding Daniel's money. She held the cloth to Phillip's hand, gently stroking his head with her free hand, she couldn't give him any verbal words to soothe his pain, but she tried her best.

"Can you sweep this up?" Sophie came back in and looked at the broken glass, then started searching through the cupboards.

Artemis nodded and grabbed the boy's other hand, placing it on the cloth, trying to show him to hold it himself. He nodded, understanding what she wanted.

Artemis went to the old broom and swept up all the glass, maybe Lucas wouldn't notice the missing glass. She shivered at the thought of the man, she wasn't sure if he was any better than his uncle.

Once she was done, she ran back to the boy. He was biting his lip to stop the tears, it must have hurt a lot. He was being brave.

Suddenly, they heard a car coming into the driveway, the car door slammed and they heard heavy footsteps stomp onto the porch, he was not in a good mood. Artemis moved Phillip to the back of the kitchen as Sophie was frozen in her spot by the pantry.

The door slammed just as hard as the car doors and the stomps had not let up, a frustrated groan rang out, alerting them that he was going for the booze in the kitchen.

When he came into view, he stopped, he had loosened his tie and taken off his jacket, the dark bags under his eyes were prominent and a heavy frown rested upon his face.

"What is this?" he looked to Artemis first, then to Sophie, then to Phillip who was facing away and clutching a rag to his hand.

"Well…" Sophie looked to Artemis.

Artemis made eye contact and gave her a sad look and nodded, giving permission, knowing what Sophie was thinking.

"Artemis broke a glass, and Phillip accidently cut his hands on it." She said, feeling horrible.

Artemis looked away as Lucas set his glare on her, he stomped over and gripped her arm, dragging her into the backyard.

"I have had a very bad day, Artemis." He growled as his grip tightened, causing Artemis to wince. "I'm too tired to put up with this." He threw her down towards the storm cellar doors. "You'll be spending tonight in there." He sighed. "Then we'll see if you want to break anymore glasses."

She whimpered as he threw open the doors and all but threw her down the stairs. She crumpled into a heap in the cold ground, her arm hurting where he had held it. He closed the doors and left her in nothing but darkness…no…

She started breathing heavily, clutching at her shirt as she felt like she was suffocating.

" _Artie_?" a strangely familiar voice shot out in the dark.

She froze, who was that?

" _You okay there, mate_?" the voice said, but it sounded so distant, maybe she hadn't actually heard it.

She started sobbing again, but jerked up when she felt a hand on her arm, and then everything faded away.

* * *

Artemis gasped as she shot up in her bed, causing the other person to jump back.

"A little warning next time?" a lazy voice said.

She looked around and saw the rest of the room empty, but then her gaze landed on a certain brunette boy.

"It's me, Raz." He said when he saw her wide eyes. "You were having some kind of nightmare."

She calmed herself by taking deep breaths, she then looked around the room again, Raz, noticing this, started to speak up again.

"Peter and Arthur's here, so is Mel and Henry." He said. "But they all went out to get some of the donuts that Mel's mum was bringing back. They left me in case you woke up and got scared." He smirked. "'Cause you'd be all alone, you know, you need someone big and strong like me to protect you."

She raised an eyebrow, causing his smirk to widen.

"Maybe not then…" he rolled his eyes.

"Raz, did you say you wanted blueberry?" Arthur suddenly entered, frowning at one of the donuts in his hands. But he stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Artemis sitting up.

"Hey, Arthur, look who it is." Raz nodded towards her.

"Artie…" his shocked face was taken over by a grin. "You're awake!" he carelessly tossed one of the donuts to Raz, who barely managed to catch it. "Sorry, we didn't know if you would be able to eat one…" he looked guilty.

She shook her head with a smile, as if telling him all was forgiven.

Peter, Mel, and Henry came in after that, all laughing and talking like good friends. But they all stopped when they saw Artemis.

"You're up!" Mel exclaimed. "How're you feeling?" she walked up and held Artemis's hand. Artemis convinced herself to not flinch, to not shy away from the touch…it was fine, Mel was just being comforting.

"Everyone was really vague as to why you were here." Henry said as he leaned on the railing at the foot of the bed.

"Not a single straight answer from anyone." Peter said as he went and stood next to Arthur.

She touched her side and frowned, then looked to Mel, signing something that no one else understood, but by Mel's expression of horror, it wasn't good.

"What?" Mel screeched. "Who would do that?"

Artemis looked away, a sad expression coming over her face. She signed something else, Mel frowned, but remained quiet.

"What did she say?" Henry asked.

Mel looked to Artemis, as if asking permission, Artemis was reminded of her dream before nodding. "She said she was stabbed." Mel said in a very quiet voice.

Everyone was silent, their expression showed that of disbelief. Artemis sighed.

 _But something good came of it_. She signed to Mel, who frowned in confusion.

"What good could come out of something like that?" she asked.

Artemis smiled. "I found my voice." She said, her voice was so soft, so quiet, no one really believed they had heard it, until Peter spoke up.

"What?" he said dumbly.

"Hah." Raz suddenly grinned. "Of course you'd be the one to do the impossible."

Artemis grinned back.

Mel suddenly jumped up and wrapped her arms around Artemis's neck. Artemis flinched this time, but only in surprise and slight pain from her side.

"I'm so happy for you, Artie…" Mel sniffed.

Artemis patted her back before catching a glimpse of Henry, his face was in a soft smile, looking right at Mel.

"So, you can talk now, huh?" Arthur smiled. "Good, I didn't like that Mel had to translate."

"You coming back to school then, Artie?" Henry asked, putting his hands into his pant pockets

She nodded. "Soon…" she said, her voice started to hurt her throat again, she wished she was used to it already. "N-Not sure when."

They nodded in unison, she found it kind of funny.

"I believe she should get some rest now." A familiar voice came from the door. Mycroft stood there, eyeing the group of children. Their eyes all widened in shock, having forgotten the adults out in the hallways.

Arthur, Peter, and Raz looked down, Mycroft intimidated them. Mel and Henry looked at each other, then back to Artemis.

"Alright, goodbye, Artie." Mel smiled and hugged the small girl around the neck, Henry waved and said his goodbye as well.

"Goodbye, Mr. Holmes." Henry nodded to Mycroft in respect. Mycroft nodded back. Henry and Mel left, and Raz, Arthur, and Peter soon left in silence after waving to Artemis.

"How are you feeling?" Mycroft asked in concern.

She tilted her hand in a so-so gesture.

He looked down. "I'm sorry this happened to you." he said stiffly. "Do you need anything?"

She shook her head. "Thank you." she said.

He let a small smile show. "You are very welcome, Artemis." he said. "The doctors say you should be able to get out of here in about three weeks…"

She frowned at him, that seemed like it would be so long.

"You're lucky." he said. "The knife missed your vital organs." he began a rant on how awful it would have been if the knife had hit anything important, she stopped really paying attention. Instead, she stared at the bags under his eyes, the slight indications that he had lost weight, like his clothes fitting looser and his cheeks somewhat sunken. He looked bad, like _really_ bad, she wondered how her absence had affected him.

She patted the edge of her bed as a sign for him to sit down. He stopped talking and frowned at her in confusion. She patted it again with a nod. He sighed and walked over, sitting uncomfortably on the very edge, hands folded neatly in his lap as he looked down at the ground.

She slowly crawled over to him and put a hand on his shoulder, he looked at her with such a sad expression, she wondered if he blamed himself for this.

"Not your fault…" she shook her head. "It's irrational to think that." she smirked.

"You often give me irrational thoughts…" he said and looked down. "Like the idea that I can protect you from all the dangers of this cruel world, or maybe that I'll always be there to watch you." he rubbed his face. "But I know I won't always be there, and the dangers will always find you, no matter what I do. It's part of growing up, I suppose."

"Do you...still want me?" she asked quietly and let her hand slip.

"Of course I do, Artemis." he said. "You're intelligent and creative, and I wish to give you a life where you may express those qualities without difficulty."

"Do you love me?" she asked. "Unconditionally?" she looked back at him.

He paused for a moment. "I do, Artemis." he nodded and reached out to hold her. "I don't often express things like this, but I want you to know that I do love you." he stroked her head.

"I won't get used to it." she laughed and hugged him closer.

* * *

 **Fluffy little Mycroft and Artemis moment, I really enjoy writing those...**

 **Special thanks to: D** **inosaur Imperial Soldier, Reading-Stories-Only, Guest, JularaVon, CasJeanne, ljtbookgeek15 for their amazingly awesome reviews that really help me stay inspired!**

 **Not much to say...so I'll just leave it at that. Please don't forget to review, and stay awesome, all you lovely people!**


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